World soccer’s governing body FIFA could reportedly face legal action from nations which play Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal side at the World Cup after the veteran forward was given an unprecedented reprieve.
Ronaldo was staring down the barrel of missing the first two group games at this summer’s tournament after flinging an elbow into Dara O’Shea. Violent conduct instantly leads to a three-game ban across all competitive fixtures and the Portuguese skipper duly sat out his nation’s final qualifier against Armenia (which happened to be a 9–1 win).
However, FIFA ruled that Ronaldo would be available for the start of the World Cup, with the final two-thirds of his three-game ban suspended under a year’s probation. The 40-year-old will only be sidelined if he “commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period.”
Now, it has been claimed that FIFA could face an appeal from nations which are drawn against Portugal who argue that Ronaldo should not be eligible, the Daily Mail claim. These theoretical protestors—who will be determined at the World Cup group stage draw on Dec. 5—could have the option of going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
CAS serves as an independent arbiter and would hypothetically set their panel on the issue with the power to overrule FIFA.
Are FIFA Allowed to Take Away Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup Ban?
The specific action of suspending a proportion of a player’s ban has never been carried out by FIFA, according to BBC Sport. Although, other players have seen prospective bans wiped away entirely.
France’s Laurent Koscielny only missed one game after slapping Ukraine’s Oleksandr Kucher in a 2014 World Cup playoff while Croatian striker Mario Mandžukić was allowed back for the second group game in 2018—a game against Cameroon in which he scored twice.
However, as the report points out, Article 27 of FIFA’s disciplinary code effectively gives them the power to “fully or partially suspend” a disciplinary measure for “a probationary period of one to four years.”
The Daily Mail cite “those with knowledge of the situation” who claim that any nation unhappy with facing Ronaldo would have to somehow prove that they are “directly affected by the decision and that there is a legal interest worthy of protection.”
Quite how anyone will be able to make that argument remains to be seen.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup Reprieve Creates ‘Risk of Legal Action’.
