Ronaldo will not return to Portugal while Jorge Jesus remains in charge, Rui Santos says
Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly decided he will not rejoin the Portugal national team while Jorge Jesus remains head coach, a development linked to a dispute during the September-October international window, journalist Rui Santos told CNN Portugal. The 41-year-old left the national team camp after a row over selection during the UEFA Nations League window.
Ronaldo — Portugal’s all-time leading goalscorer — was an unused substitute in Portugal’s 2-1 win over Norway in the UEFA Nations League. The match and the subsequent handling of team selection prompted an extraordinary press conference from Jesus. At that press conference Jesus said: “Everything is open. Cristiano must decide his own fate; it does not depend on me.” He added: “It was a misunderstanding, and in my view it is easy to resolve. I am not sad; it is his decision.”
Sources report that the disagreement centred on squad choices and how the situation was publicly addressed; Jesus has also emphasised that team selection is his responsibility. After the dispute, Ronaldo left the Portugal camp aboard his private jet. The forward told those close to him that he would set out the behind-the-scenes reasons for his departure at a later date.
Rui Santos, speaking to CNN Portugal, said Ronaldo has “reportedly vented that he will not return to the national team, at least while Jorge Jesus is in technical command.” Santos cited information also reported by the French website Foot Mercato when describing Ronaldo’s reaction to the coach’s public remarks.
Santos told CNN Portugal that Ronaldo was “not satisfied in the slightest with the handling of this entire process. He was particularly outraged by the content of the statements made by Jorge Jesus, the head coach.” He added a longer assessment of Ronaldo’s view: “He has stopped believing and stopped trusting in contradictions between the expressed desire to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back, so he can still participate in the Nations League, but at the same time saying and fully emphasising that “there are no apologies from anyone, I am not here to ask for apologies, I am the one who makes the squad selection” – and therefore an exercise of authority. “The narrative was one of inclusion, of including Cristiano Ronaldo, not of exclusion (but it hasn’t worked).”
Jesus has said Ronaldo is free to return to the Portugal team “if he wants to”. The Portuguese Football Federation is reportedly attempting to bring the forward back for a farewell appearance.
Ronaldo’s international future is therefore uncertain: reports attribute to him a decision not to rejoin Portugal while Jorge Jesus remains head coach, even as the coach and the federation publicly state the door remains open for his return.
