Portugal manager Roberto Martínez has urged FIFA not to hand out a lengthy ban to Cristiano Ronaldo over his red card against the Republic of Ireland.
A shock 2–0 defeat went from bad to worse on the hour mark when VAR caught a clash between Ronaldo and Dara O’Shea. The Al Nassr forward was deemed to have thrown an elbow into the defender’s back and was subsequently shown a red card.
It means Ronaldo’s role in Portugal’s qualification for the World Cup is over but, perhaps more concerningly, the veteran forward could be suspended for the first two games of next summer’s tournament if FIFA’s disciplinary committee finds him guilty of violent conduct.
As far as Martínez is concerned, a suspension of anything more than the typical one game would be incredibly harsh as he believes Ronaldo’s act was not violent—rather a frustrated response to a series of provocative actions from O’Shea and his Ireland teammates.
“After the game it’s a difficult time because emotions can be unclear,” Martínez said. “I saw his reaction to a provocation. It started at the beginning of the game, in every play in the penalty area. It even started the day before in the press conference.
“And it was a reaction of trying to continue playing. Others might fall to the ground and look for a penalty. It’s not a violent action, it’s not a red card for violence, but a reaction to a provocation. We need to try to show the case and prepare well. I would say it would be very unfair to impose a long suspension.”
According to Portuguese outlet A BOLA, officials from Portugal are working on a formal appeal to FIFA to try and ensure Ronaldo is only suspended for one game.
Ronaldo Dismissed From Portugal Duty
Reports ahead of Portugal’s meeting with Armenia on Sunday revealed Ronaldo had been released from the squad.
Martínez urged fans to read beyond the obvious headline of such a story and reminded supporters that is simply his usual approach to players who are unavailable for any fixture.
“I’ve already spoken about the national team’s modus operandi: when a player is injured, he’s not in the squad. When a player is suspended, he’s not in the squad,” Martínez stressed. “Because his focus isn’t on playing.
“We’ve always worked this way. If he’s not in the squad on game day, he’s not in the national team. Because the players’ focus is on winning the game. We already did this with Bruno [Fernandes] in Ireland. Cristiano also had yellow cards and wasn’t there. It was against Luxembourg, and we had our best result ever.
“These are questions that are disrespectful to Cristiano and to everyone here. It’s like questioning Cristiano’s commitment. Why are we going to talk about that? He’s won many games, his commitment is impeccable. And now he has yellow cards and can’t be here. And it’s part of our way of working.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Very Unfair’ if Cristiano Ronaldo Receives Long Ban for Red Card.
