World soccer’s governing body FIFA could reportedly face legal action from nations which play Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal side at the World Cup after the veteran forward was given an unprecedented reprieve.
Ronaldo was staring down the barrel of missing the first two group games at this summer’s tournament after flinging an elbow into Dara O’Shea. Violent conduct instantly leads to a three-game ban across all competitive fixtures and the Portuguese skipper duly sat out his nation’s final qualifier against Armenia (which happened to be a 9–1 win).
However, FIFA ruled that Ronaldo would be available for the start of the World Cup, with the final two-thirds of his three-game ban suspended under a year’s probation. The 40-year-old will only be sidelined if he “commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period.”
Now, it has been claimed that FIFA could face an appeal from nations which are drawn against Portugal who argue that Ronaldo should not be eligible, the claim. These theoretical protestors—who will be determined at the World Cup group stage draw on Dec. 5—could have the option of going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
CAS serves as an independent arbiter and would hypothetically set their panel on the issue with the power to overrule FIFA.
