The disciplinary council of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) announced on Monday, 19 October 2026, that Cristiano Ronaldo has been suspended for 30 days and fined 255 euros. The sanction follows his departure from the national team camp on 30 September, when he left without consulting anyone. The non-professional section of the council found the charge fully justified and treated the offence as committed once and intentionally. The fine is set at 2.5 units of account (UC), which the ruling describes as an accessory penalty alongside the suspension. Ronaldo, who is 41, had asked for a sanction himself. The case was classed as urgent and still took nine days to decide, and he had already been suspended as a precaution while it was pending.
Reports describe a dispute with coach Jorge Jesus, who took over the Portugal side and was known to Ronaldo from Al-Nassr. Ronaldo reportedly accused Jesus of failing to keep a promise made to him. He left the team hotel in Copenhagen after hearing the coach explain at a press conference why he had not played in the previous match. Portugal were playing well as a team, but the row between the two men escalated. Ronaldo later apologised in a written statement, which did not spare him the sanction.
The council counted 19 days already served in October, leaving 11 days of the 30-day suspension.
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Reports differ on what this means for the next fixtures. One says he is out of the upcoming matches and could be available again in March. Another expects Ronaldo and Jesus to meet again at a national team camp toward the end of the first half of November. Portugal are due to face Denmark on 11 November, although another report gives 14 November for that match, and play Wales on 17 November.
The regulation allows a suspension of one to six months plus a fine for a player who abandons a national team camp, and the 30-day ban falls within that range. Ronaldo is the national team's all-time leader with 234 appearances and 146 goals, and he captained the side to victory at Euro 2016 and in the 2019 and 2025 editions of the Nations League. FPF president Pedro Proença spoke in Funchal, Madeira, at the signing of a cooperation protocol with the regional football association and the city council, and he referred to Ronaldo in his remarks.
“We are in the land of the biggest asset that Portuguese football has ever created: Cristiano Ronaldo, our captain.”
Ronaldo returns to club action with Al Nassr on Tuesday, 20 October, against Neom, after his earlier fixture against Al Ahli was postponed.
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Portugal's football federation ruled on Monday, 19 October 2026 that Ronaldo must serve a 30-day suspension for leaving the national team camp on 30 September. Nineteen of those days are already counted, leaving 11.
AI text based on reports by sport.interia.pl, LaSexta, SAPO and other publishers. Published . How it is made