Portuguese Football Federation provisionally suspends CR7 after walking out on the national team

Cristiano Ronaldo has been provisionally suspended by Portugal after walking out on the national team.

Ronaldo left the Portugal squad after he was an unused substitute for a 2-1 win away to Norway in the Nations League on September 27.

The 41-year-old, who has scored a record-breaking 146 goals in 234 appearances for his country, subsequently issued a near 2,000-word statement saying he withdrew from the squad after a "breach of trust" between him and head coach Jorge Jesus.

The Portuguese Football Federation has now acted, saying in a statement reported by Lisbon-based newspaper A Bola: "Disciplinary proceedings were initiated against Cristiano Ronaldo, by decision of the non-professional section, on October 9, with the objective of ascertaining the potential disciplinary relevance of the facts reported on October 7.

"Without prejudice to the automatic preventive suspension to which he was subject until the date of initiation, a non-automatic preventive suspension of the player was determined and the proceedings were given urgent status.

"The proceedings were sent, on October 10, to the disciplinary instruction committee of the FPF (Portuguese Football Federation), with publicity excluded until the end of the investigation."

Ronaldo missed Portugal's following two fixtures, wins over Denmark and Norway, which left them top of Group A4 with four straight wins, fuelling speculation his international career could be over.

Jesus left the door open to the veteran forward in a press conference after Sunday's win against Norway, saying: "If he wants to, he'll return to the national team."

Along with his criticism of Jesus, Ronaldo did apologise for his actions - and asked the Portugal FA to punish him and spare him any leniency.

Ronaldo returned to Al Nassr and scored for his Saudi Arabian club on Friday in his first appearance since his walkout.

Ronaldo claims coach had 'broken his word to me'

Jesus previously denied there was a rift between him and Ronaldo but his future is far from clear following his decision to air his grievances in public.

In his statement to his 679 million Instagram followers, Ronaldo said: "If I am physically well, playing for my club, with goals I hope, after serving the suspension that may be applied to me, I will be available, as I have always been until today, to compete and win for our national team."

Ronaldo also claimed in his statement that Jesus had told him he would play 30 minutes against Norway on the day of the game, only to go back on his word.

He added: "Everyone knows the rest. I warmed up from half-time onwards, watched the minutes tick by and wasn't called on," Ronaldo said. "The coach had broken his word to me."

According to the latest opinion polls in Portugal, most football fans are supporting Jesus in his dispute with Ronaldo.

The eight points Jesus 'agreed' to say to the media

Ronaldo and Jesus, who used to work together at Al Nassr, subsequently held a meeting, which was also attended by the sporting director of the Saudi Pro League club, Simao Coutinho.

According to Ronaldo's statement, Jesus agreed to clarify the situation and say that his captain never demanded minutes and that it was a mistake to let him warm up without bringing him on.

Ronaldo says an eight-point document was drawn up to summarise what had been discussed in a subsequent meeting between Jesus, Al Nassr sporting director Coutinho and Tiago Craveiro, the player's strategic adviser.

However, Ronaldo felt the Portugal head coach's press conference bore no reflection to the conversation they had shared, which he claims ended in Jesus asking him for a hug.

"I heard expressions and an aggressiveness that I do not believe I deserved, an attitude of 'I want, I can and I command' that he never showed me, not even remotely, in private the day before," said Ronaldo.

He added: "It was the second time he had broken his word to me. I decided to leave the training camp without waiting for any further broken promises."

Jesus denied that any such agreement had been made with the player in a later press conference.

How Ronaldo nearly retired from international football

Ronaldo publicly admitted earlier in this international break that he considered retiring from international football following the World Cup.

His statement on Instagram reveals that he had written his retirement statement only to be talked out of it by the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, Pedro Proenca, on the plane back from North America.

Ronaldo says Proenca then asked him for his opinion on Jesus becoming Portugal's next manager.

"I told [him] that, in my opinion, it would be the right choice," Ronaldo said. "That is why, on the day the current head coach was presented, I was genuinely happy with the choice. It was the right option, as the results are confirming."