Cristiano Ronaldo risks World Cup ban after red card against Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo risks being suspended for Portugal’s opening match of the World Cup after his red card for violent conduct against the Republic of Ireland on Thursday night.

The 40-year-old, who has confirmed that next summer’s tournament will be his sixth and final World Cup of his career before retiring, was shown a straight red card for the first time in his Portugal career after swinging an elbow at Ireland defender Dara O’Shea off the ball.

The 2-0 defeat in Dublin means Portugal must take a point against Armenia in their final World Cup qualifier on Sunday in order to top their qualifying group ahead of Hungary and Ireland, who meet to decide who goes through to the play-offs.

Red cards in World Cup qualifying carry an automatic one-match ban. However, the suspension could be increased to as many as three games, with a decision to be taken by the Fifa Disciplinary Committee.

Fifa regulations state that suspensions from qualifying fixtures must carry over into the final tournament and cannot be served in non-competitive games such as friendlies.

Unless Portugal have to go through the play-offs, Ronaldo therefore risks being suspended from his country’s first two matches at the World Cup if the Fifa Disciplinary Committee takes action.

Fifa’s disciplinary code states that players could face an increased suspension of “at least three matches or an appropriate period of time for assault, including elbowing, punching, kicking, biting, spitting or hitting an opponent”.

Ronaldo’s first red card in international football came on his 226th appearance for Portugal and came after the Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson urged the referee to take strong action against Ronaldo and not allow him to control the game.

Ronaldo threw an elbow towards O’Shea while the two tussled in the Ireland box and he was originally given a yellow card for the challenge, before a VAR review recommended an on-field review and referee Glenn Nyberg upgraded the punishment to a red card.

Ronaldo was furious to be dismissed, with his tantrum mocked by the Ireland fans in Dublin, and he had words for Ireland boss Hallgrimsson as he eventually stormed off the pitch.

Hallgrimsson later revealed that Ronaldo “complimented me for putting pressure on the referee” due to his pre-match comments.

“It was his action on the pitch that cost him the red card,” Hallgrimsson said. “It had nothing to do with me – unless I got into his head.

“No, I think we spoke enough when he came off. There was nothing to speak about. This was just a moment of a little silliness from him, I would say.”

The red card harmed Portugal’s chances of getting back into the game and it leaves Roberto Martinez’s side requiring a point against Armenia in their final qualifying match.

Martinez did not criticise Ronaldo, instead turning the attention on Hallgrimsson and saying that his pre-match comments urging the officials to be stronger left a “bitter taste”.

“The red card is just a captain that has never been sent off before in 226 games – I think that just deserves credit – and today, I thought it was a bit harsh because he cares about the team,” Martinez said.

“He was 60 minutes or 58 minutes in the box being grabbed, being pulled, being pushed and obviously when he tries to get away from the defender…

“I think the action looks worse than what it actually is, I don’t think it’s an elbow, I think it’s a full body, but from where the camera is, it looks like an elbow. But we accept it.

“The only thing that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth is at the press conference yesterday, your coach was talking about the aspect of the referees being influenced, and then a big centre-half falls on the floor so dramatically at the turn of Cristiano’s body.”

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