The Portuguese football federation has reportedly devised a three-pronged argument as part of an appeal to limit Cristiano Ronaldo’s international ban to just one fixture.
Ronaldo was dismissed for the first time in his international career against the Republic of Ireland last Thursday. After initially receiving a yellow card for catching Dara O’Shea with a stray elbow, Portugal’s captain had it upgraded to a red by referee Glenn Nyberg following consultation with the pitch-side monitor.
The ban for violent conduct is typically three matches and stretches across all competitive international fixtures. Having sat out Sunday’s historic thumping of Armenia which confirmed his nation’s World Cup qualification, Ronaldo could be staring down the barrel of sitting out the tournament’s first two group games.
National team boss Roberto Martínez promptly rushed to his skipper’s defense, and the body that oversees Portuguese soccer has laid out a detailed argument in their feverish attempts to exonerate their tantrum-throwing talisman, per .
