Cristiano Ronaldo has been cleared to play in the opening matches of the World Cup in Portugal after being given a suspended sentence for his red card against Ireland.
Portugal striker who was guest of President Donald Trump The White House last week imposed a routine three-match ban for violent behavior, which FIFA's disciplinary committee on Tuesday replaced with a one-game ban, and two other matches were suspended with a one-year probationary period. Ronaldo essentially served his suspension, missing Portugal's final World Cup qualifier against Armenia.
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Ronaldo, 40, was dismissed during Portugal's shock defeat to Ireland on November 13 after he was found to have elbowed defender Dara O'Shea. He has previously been sent off 13 times, but never in senior international matches, a record that spans a staggering 226 matches.
FIFA's Disciplinary Code specifies that a player must serve “a minimum of three matches or an appropriate period of time for assault, including elbowing, punching, kicking, biting, spitting or striking an opponent or a person other than a match official.” However, according to Article 27 of the code, FIFA's judicial committee, which decides on disciplinary sanctions, has the ability to “suspend the application of the disciplinary measure in whole or in part.”
A FIFA statement said: “In accordance with Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the remaining two matches have been suspended for a probationary period of one year. Cristiano Ronaldo commits another offense of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension specified in the disciplinary decision shall be deemed automatically revoked and the remaining two matches shall be served immediately at the next official match(s) of the Portuguese representative team. This is without prejudice to any additional sanctions imposed for the new violation.”
A three-match ban can be appealed to the FIFA Appeals Committee.
