The Portuguese Football Federation is preparing a complaint to FIFA in an attempt to reduce the length of Cristiano Ronaldo’s suspension following his red card against the Republic of Ireland.
Ronaldo was sent off in Portugal’s 2-0 defeat to Ireland on Thursday night for swinging an elbow at defender Dara O’Shea.
The 40-year-old was initially given a yellow card before referee Glenn Nyberg changed his decision to a red after a VAR review.
Ronaldo will now serve an automatic one-game ban, meaning that he misses Portugal’s World Cup qualifier against Armenia on Sunday.
But Portugal’s all-time leading goalscorer could also miss the start of the World Cup next year, depending on the verdict given by FIFA’s disciplinary committee.
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FIFA disciplinary laws indicate that the nature of Ronaldo’s red card means he could miss ‘at least two matches for serious foul play’ or ‘at least three matches for violent conduct’.
However, Record report that the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, Pedro Proenca, is preparing to put forward a case to FIFA in the hope of avoiding more than a one-match suspension for Ronaldo.
The report claims that Portugal’s argument will be based around three points. The first argument being the hostile atmosphere in Dublin which the Portuguese Football Federation believes was created by Ireland’s head coach, Heimir Hallgrimsson, who had accused Ronaldo of ‘controlling the referee’ in the reverse fixture in Lisbon.
Portugal also believe that Ronaldo was goaded into swinging his elbow and was constantly manhandled during the match. Portugal also believe there is an absence of precedents as it was Ronaldo’s first red card in 226 appearances for the national side.
Ronaldo is set to face a three-week wait to discover the length of his ban as FIFA typically takes three weeks after World Cup qualifying matches to reveal its disciplinary verdicts.
Portugal currently sit top of their World Cup qualifying group and a win against Armenia on Sunday would guarantee their qualification for next summer’s tournament.
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