The Portuguese Football Federation has been hit with a massive social media backlash after Cristiano Ronaldo’s dramatic exit from the national team camp.
The official Portugal Instagram account has lost over one million followers within 24 hours of Ronaldo’s decision to quit camp and fly home.
According to The Sun, the team’s account initially had 24.9 million followers on Wednesday, but by Thursday evening that number had dropped to 23.8 million, according to checks on the page.
Ronaldo, 41, dramatically left the national team on Wednesday amid rumours of a major rift with new head coach Jorge Jesus.
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The veteran forward did not feature in Portugal’s win over Norway on Sunday. Speaking before the Denmark game, Jesus said:”I’m the coach and I told the player that he wasn’t going to play. I told him I would take him to the bench and that, if I needed him for 30 minutes, he would play. But I saw the game differently, so he didn’t come on. It won’t be Cristiano, or any other player, who changes my ideas as a coach. Never.”
Hours after that press conference, Ronaldo released a statement on his social media.
“Following the national team manager’s press conference, and after a conversation with the President of the Portuguese Football Federation, I decided to leave the national team’s training camp. In due course, I will tell the Portuguese people the truth about the reasons behind my departure from the national team, to which I have always been dedicated.”
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who remains Portugal’s all-time top scorer with 138 goals, insisted he has not retired from international football yet and will explain his side of the story later.
The fallout has been immediate, with fans flooding the Portugal page with pro-Ronaldo comments and unfollowing en masse in solidarity with the captain.
