WE WON’T MISS YOU WHEN YOU BEHAVE LIKE THIS, CRISTIANO
PUMPED-UP and preening Cristiano Ronaldo won’t be missed from this excellent World Cup by match officials after his disgraceful display as Portugal exited the tournament. FIFA missed a massive opportunity to stamp some authority by imposing a significant sanction on the world superstar after his outrageous dissent. The tournament has been blighted by these scenes of overthe-top reactions to refereeing decisions with scant respect shown to match officials. I’ve seen the universally recognised obscenity ‘Puta’ screamed into faces of assistants and numerous referees surrounded by mass dissenters demanding a VAR review or a reversal of a clearly correct decision. A very enjoyable competition with some very good officiating is in danger of being spoilt by the antics of the players and Saturday evening showed this as Ronaldo’s behaviour merely resulted in a yellow card and a subsequent one-match ban as it was his second of the World Cup. He’ll miss the Nations Cup opener against Italy. Big deal. If this is to be the last we see of Ronaldo at a World Cup, it does not reflect well on his remarkable talents that this will be the final image. FIFA must instruct referees to be stronger in dealing with protests and then impose significant sanctions if the game isn’t to be lost to these screaming prima donnas.