{"id":308537,"date":"2025-11-25T21:36:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T21:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/308537\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T21:36:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T21:36:20","slug":"cristiano-ronaldo-free-to-play-after-suspended-ban-reaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/308537\/","title":{"rendered":"Cristiano Ronaldo free to play after suspended ban, reaction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo can play in the opening matches of the 2026 World Cup after global football governing body FIFA gave him a partially \u201csuspended\u201d ban following a red card.<\/p>\n<p>Watch the biggest Aussie sports &amp; the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkgeneric-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-grc-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The 40-year-old was sent off as Portugal lost 2-0 in Dublin earlier in November when he elbowed Dara O\u2019Shea in the back, for his first dismissal in 226 international appearances.<\/p>\n<p>FIFA banned Ronaldo for three matches, two of which will be suspended and the other has already been served, when Portugal sealed their qualification for next summer\u2019s tournament against Armenia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn line with article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the serving of the two remaining matches has been suspended under a one-year probation period,\u201d said FIFA in a statement given to AFP.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Cristiano Ronaldo commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension set out in the disciplinary decision shall be deemed automatically revoked and the remaining two matches must be served immediately at the next official (Portugal) matches.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763806450_225_poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Sky Sports\u2019 Chief Correspondent Kaveh Solhekol called it an \u201cunprecedented decision\u201d that suited both Ronaldo and FIFA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnder normal circumstances, Ronaldo should be suspended for Portugal\u2019s first two World Cup games, but there is nothing normal about the Portugal superstar,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRonaldo\u2019s legion of fans will say it is only right that their hero is being treated differently from everyone else.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter all, his red card was the first time he had been sent off in 226 internationals. Others will say rules are rules. Serious foul play should mean a two-match ban and violent conduct means a three-match ban.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is undeniable is that this unprecedented decision suits Ronaldo and FIFA.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Football writer Henry Winter, meanwhile, called it \u201cspecial treatment\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFifa admits the seriousness of Ronaldo\u2019s offence and yet punishes him lightly. A good day for marketing. A bad day for discipline,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Ronaldo, the men\u2019s all-time top goalscorer in international football with 143 goals, is aiming to play at a sixth World Cup next summer in the United States, Mexico and Canada.<\/p>\n<p>The former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker, currently at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, has not yet lifted the trophy but did win Euro 2016 with Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>Ronaldo attended a dinner in the White House last week where he met US President Donald Trump, who said his son Barron \u201cis a big fan\u201d of the forward.<\/p>\n<p>The World Cup group stage draw takes place on December 5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo can play in the opening matches of the 2026 World Cup after global football&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-308537","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}