Leo sparked a controversy before the World Cup. Will FIFA hit Portugal?

Portugal winger Rafael Leao’s sending off in Saturday night’s friendly between his country and Chile sparked widespread controversy over the possibility of him playing Portugal’s first game at the 2026 World Cup, which starts next Thursday in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Portuguese newspaper Apola reports that Rafael Leao’s sending-off against Chile is unlikely to rule him out of Portugal’s 2026 World Cup match against the Democratic Republic of Congo, despite the controversy surrounding his straight red card before the end of the first half.

The newspaper explained that Portugal still have a final friendly match against Nigeria before the start of the tournament, and that FIFA’s disciplinary rules distinguish between official and friendly matches when applying suspension penalties.

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According to the report, the general rule states that a player who is sent off is punished with a suspension of at least one game, with the possibility of increasing the fine depending on the seriousness of the offense.

However, when the offense occurs in a friendly match, the suspension is usually applied to another friendly match and does not automatically extend to official tournaments or major finals.

A likely scenario…and an exceptional decision

Abula added that the most likely scenario is that Liao will miss the upcoming friendly against Nigeria, then he will be available against the Democratic Republic of Congo, unless FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee makes an exceptional decision to redefine the incident or increase the punishment after reviewing the referee’s report.

The newspaper said that FIFA reserves the discretion to reduce, increase or even suspend sanctions on a case-by-case basis, but current indications do not suggest that Liao’s case will deviate from the usual framework.

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The report also cites a similar case involving Curacao’s Jurgen Locadia, as his sending-off in a friendly against Scotland led to a suspension in the next friendly against Aruba on Sunday morning, while he retained his eligibility for his country’s World Cup opener. the tournament starts.