Ronaldo faces the prospect of missing games at next summer’s World Cup finals
Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off against the Republic of Ireland (Liam McBurney/PA)
Portuguese football chiefs are set to lodge an appeal to FIFA for clemency for Cristiano Ronaldo off the back of his red card offence in Dublin and claim that the hostility of the crowd in Lansdowne Road was a factor.
Assuming that Portugal avoid defeat at home to Armenia on Sunday and qualify directly for the World Cup finals, Ronaldo – who is automatically suspended for that Armenia tie – faces the prospect of missing the first two games of the finals next summer, if FIFA’s disciplinary body accepts that he was guilty of violent conduct when he struck Dara O’Shea with his elbow.