British broadcaster, Piers Morgan has strongly condemned the Portuguese Football Federation’s decision to reassign Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic number seven shirt to winger Rafael Leão for their upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures against Denmark and Norway.
The reallocation follows Ronaldo’s abrupt exit from the national team camp after being left as an unused substitute by head coach Jorge Jesus during Sunday’s match against Norway.
Expressing his outrage on X, Morgan labeled the federation’s handling of the all-time top scorer as “disgusting” and “shameful”:
“Disgusting, if true. After everything @Cristiano has done for Portugal, why the hell are they treating him like this? Yesterday was his father’s birthday, and he played for his country the day after his dad died. Shameful to see this shocking disrespect for their greatest player.”
Despite the surrounding controversy, Rafael Leão expressed pride after inheriting the jersey, describing the Al-Nassr forward as his primary footballing role model. Meanwhile, Portugal management faces mounting scrutiny over the growing rift as they prepare for their scheduled international fixtures.
