FIFA clears Ronaldo to play opening matches at World Cup
The Portugal captain was show the red card in their penultimate qualifier against Ireland in Dublin earlier this month for an elbowing Dara O'Shea in a 2-0 defeat.
New Delhi: Cristiano Ronaldo will be available for selection in Portugal’s opening matches at next year's World Cup after FIFA suspended the final two matches of his three-match ban on Tuesday.
The Portugal captain was show the red card in their penultimate qualifier against Ireland in Dublin earlier this month for an elbowing Dara O'Shea in a 2-0 defeat.
He sat out Portugal's final group game, a 9-1 win over Armenia which secured qualification, and FIFA confirmed that the 40-year-old received a three-match ban but two of those games have been deferred for a one-year probation period.
It means he won’t have to serve the remainder of the ban unless he repeats the offence.
"In line with article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the serving of the two remaining matches has been suspended under a one-year probation period," a FIFA statement said.
"If Cristiano Ronaldo commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension set out in the disciplinary decision shall be deemed automatically revoked and the remaining two matches must be served immediately at the next official match(es) of the Portuguese representative team."
The FIFA verdict comes a week after Ronaldo met US President Donald Trump at the White House for a formal dinner with Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, which was attended by FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Portugal will play two friendlies in March, followed by one or two warm-up games in late-May or June before the World Cup’s commencement on June 11.
Draw procedure announced
FIFA also announced the draw procedure for the tournament and said Spain can’t face Argentina while France won’t meet England before the final, should they win their groups.
The rule has been put in place to maintain competitive balance for the tournament that will be expanded to 48 teams.
To-ranked Spain and number two world champions Argentina) have been placed in opposite halves of the bracket, similar to number three France and number four England.