FPF opens case and imposes provisional suspension on Ronaldo

After Jorge Jesus’s press conference in Copenhagen on 30 September, Cristiano Ronaldo spoke with Portuguese Football Federation president Pedro Proença. He then announced he was leaving Portugal’s camp. The departure turned a dispute inside the national team into a question of whether its captain would be available for Portugal’s November matches.

The departure has since become a formal disciplinary matter. Ronaldo said he left after Jorge Jesus broke his word; the FPF opened an urgent case, referred it for investigation and imposed a provisional suspension under rules that permit a further sanction for an unjustified departure from national-team duty. Pedro Proença says the federation wants its captain back in November, but also says independent bodies will assess the case. That welcome is not clearance. Whether Ronaldo can return depends on the investigation and any further punishment, not on the president’s stated preference.

The tension surfaced after Portugal’s 2-1 win over Norway in Oslo on 27 September. Ronaldo had warmed up during the match after Jesus sent him to prepare, but remained an unused substitute. At the final whistle, he left the pitch without joining his team-mates to thank Portugal’s supporters, according to reports of the match.

Ronaldo later set out his reason for leaving camp: he believed Jesus had broken an agreement about how the decision not to use him would be explained. Jesus said he had planned to use Ronaldo in the final half-hour but decided the match did not call for it, and that he makes the team decisions. In his account, he had been told the coach would say the plan had been his own, that Ronaldo had not asked for minutes, and that warming him up before leaving him on the bench had been a mistake.

The manager had broken his word to me.

Ronaldo described it as the second time Jesus had failed to keep his word and said that was when he decided to leave. He also apologised, accepted responsibility and said he was prepared to face the consequences. His account explains why he walked out; the FPF’s case concerns whether leaving camp was an unjustified breach of national-team duty.

The FPF’s Non-Professional Disciplinary Section decided on 9 October to open a case over events reported on 7 October. The federation announced the decision the following day, calling the proceedings urgent and referring them to its Disciplinary Investigation Commission. The FPF said the case would remain private until the investigation phase was complete.

There are two distinct preventive measures. Ronaldo was automatically suspended from Portugal duties after leaving camp; when it opened the case, the FPF also imposed a separate, non-automatic provisional suspension. CNN Portugal reported that this second measure could last no more than 20 days from notification, ending on 30 October, and that the time would count towards any later sanction.

The rules cited in reports allow a suspension of one to six months if a regularly called-up player unjustifiably leaves or misses a national-team activity. For a professional player, they also allow a fine of five to ten units of account. A Bola gave the fine’s equivalent as 510 to 1,020 euros; other reports put it at about 500 to 1,000 euros.

Those are possible penalties, not a finding that Ronaldo broke the rule. The commission is still investigating whether the circumstances of his departure justify further punishment, and the FPF has not made the proceedings public.

The provisional order does not, by itself, settle whether Ronaldo can join Portugal in November.

If I’m physically fit, playing for my club – scoring goals, I hope – after serving whatever suspension is imposed on me, I’ll be available, as I’ve always been until now, to compete and win for our national team.

That is a conditional offer, not confirmation of a return. Portugal had already qualified for the Nations League quarter-finals before its two November group matches, against Wales and Denmark. Those fixtures remain on the schedule.

Ronaldo must have the chance to defend himself, Correia said, but he criticised the fact that the order kept him out of Portugal’s matches while allowing him to play for Al Nassr. Ronaldo did play and score for the Saudi club during the suspension.

What seems extremely serious to me, and has never happened, is that the player is not suspended at club level too.

Pedro Proença’s position is different: the federation wants Ronaldo back, but says the disciplinary bodies must decide independently. “There is a strong desire to have our captain back. There will be a normal disciplinary process. The bodies will assess it independently,” he said. For Correia, the gap between a national-team suspension and club football raises a question about consistency; for Proença, the decision belongs to the independent process.

Ronaldo is not the first Portugal international reported to have left camp on his own initiative. SIC Notícias cited Paulo Futre in 1995 and Ricardo Carvalho in 2011, though Carvalho’s case offers the clearer comparison.

Carvalho left during preparations for a Euro 2012 qualifier against Cyprus. The FPF sanctioned him on 13 September 2011, imposing a 12-month exclusion under rules that allowed a ban of up to two years. Those regulations and that penalty range differed from the rules cited in Ronaldo’s case, so Carvalho’s punishment does not set the terms for the current investigation.

The precedent did not end Carvalho’s international career. He returned to Portugal’s squad in October 2014 after Fernando Santos called him up. His path shows that a departure can be followed by both a substantial sanction and a later return, but the different regulatory basis means Ronaldo’s next step will be decided on its own facts.

Ronaldo’s departure in Copenhagen began after a conversation with Pedro Proença; the next decisive moment will come from the investigation, not from the president’s welcome. No date has been announced for a final decision, leaving Portugal’s November plans without a clear answer on the captain’s availability.

• The investigation commission’s completion of its work, which must precede the disciplinary decision.
• Portugal’s home Nations League match against Denmark on 14 November, the next scheduled fixture in November.