Cristiano Ronaldo has avoided the risk of missing next year’s FIFA World Cup as the FIFA has decided to impose a one year probationary period instead of giving a full suspension for the Portugal star. The 40-year old footballer received a red-card during Portugal’s match against the Republic of Ireland on November 13.
Earlier, FIFA confirmed that Ronaldo will be getting a three-match ban for elbowing Ireland defender Dara O’Shea. However, two of the three matches were suspended under a one-year probation, meaning Ronaldo will be available for Portugal’s first two games at the World Cup next year.
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When the incident happened Ronaldo was shown a yellow card but after a review, the referee upgraded it to red. This was the first time the Portugal captain received a red card in 226 appearance of his career for Portugal. The disciplinary committee gave a three-game suspension and one match ban. Ronaldo served the mandatory one-match suspension in qualifier against Armenia on November 16.
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“If 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 match(es) of the Portuguese representative team,” FIFA said in a statement.
“This is without prejudice to any additional sanctions imposed for the new infringement. The three-match suspension is subject to appeal to the FIFA Appeal Committee.”
