Former Chelsea midfielder, Craig Burley, has criticized FIFA following their determination to permit Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo to play for his nation’s nationwide group within the 2026 FIFA World Cup opener.
Burley labelled FIFA’s determination as a mockery and a disgrace to droop the ban and scale back Ronaldo’s crimson card to a one-game suspension.
Recall that Ronaldo was despatched off in Portugal’s 2-0 defeat to Eire for elbowing Dara O’Shea off the ball.
The Al-Nassr ahead was suspended for Portugal’s closing qualifier win in opposition to Armenia.
Talking on ESPN FC, Burley mentioned, “If Gianni Infantino had any disgrace…as a result of let’s be trustworthy, he’d promote his soul for cash, he’s proven that with the Membership World Cup and the prolonged World Cup.
“They’ve made a mockery of their very own disciplinary course of, an entire disgrace. What this says to refs and different professionals is, ‘Possibly you shouldn’t ship off the large stars, maintain it to the fellows beneath the radar as a result of we wish these huge stars at a significant event’.
“When have you ever ever seen any participant get a probation after getting despatched off for violent conduct. It’s a 3 sport ban and that’s it, you’ll be able to’t give somebody a three-game ban and inform them you’ll be able to have two video games off.
“This has made a mockery of the organisation as a result of they’re making the foundations up for themselves. If that had been some other participant…… they’d have three-game suspension, and they’d have missed the World Cup or the primary couple video games of the World Cup.
“However for Cristiano Ronaldo, there’s completely different guidelines and if FIFA try to let you know something completely different, then they’re speaking absolute nonsense.”
