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The former president of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), Gilberto Madaíl, asked Cristiano Ronaldo for "humility" this Tuesday following his sudden departure from the Portugal national team, due to the importance that the organization, he stated, has had in the forward's career.
"Ronaldo should have the humility to recognize that it was also thanks to the Federation (...) that he achieved what he has, all the prestige he enjoys today," said Madaíl in an interview with the Portuguese station Rádio Renascença.
Madaíl, who presided over the FPF between 1996 and 2011, lamented this controversy that "the country does not understand" and recalled the support and treatment that the FPF provided to Cristiano throughout his entire career.
"It saddened me a lot to see how Cristiano Ronaldo received support in the national team, the way in which (former coach) Luiz Filipe Scolari pampered him when he suffered the tragedy of his father's death, the way in which everyone in the Federation treated him, and now this situation," he noted.
"I don't know where Cristiano is headed, he is headed towards what he wants. I don't know what it is, nor do I want to know," added Gilberto Madaíl.
Madaíl's successor at the Federation and president between 2011 and 2025, Fernando Gomes, refused to "meddle" in the situation and expressed his wish that it be resolved "satisfactorily."
"I believe all Portuguese people have that hope that the situation can be resolved satisfactorily and for the contentment of everyone, and fundamentally, for Portugal," added the current president of the Portuguese Olympic Committee to the local press at an event held in Porto.
Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, abruptly abandoned the national team last Wednesday due to disagreements with current head coach Jorge Jesus, after not being fielded in the Nations League match against Norway in Oslo on September 27 (1-2).
According to Jesus, the reason was having the Saudi Al Nassr attacker warm up for half an hour and then not putting him on the field.
[Publicidad]