Lisbon’s football landmarks became the backdrop to Portugal’s growing dispute over Cristiano Ronaldo on Friday, as supporters placed large public messages backing the forward and challenging Jorge Jesus’s handling of his departure from the national-team camp.
Protests across the Portuguese capital
Three oversized banners appeared at busy sites around Lisbon, each defending Ronaldo’s record with Portugal while directing criticism towards the coach.
- Two banners were installed beside the Segunda Circular, with one close to Humberto Delgado Airport and another near Estádio da Luz.
- A third was placed in Caxias, beside Cidade do Futebol, the headquarters of the Portuguese Football Federation.
- The message near the federation complex thanked Ronaldo for his years with the national side, described him as captain, and objected to the way Jesus had dealt with the situation.
- That banner was removed within hours after Oeiras City Council said it had not received the necessary authorisation.
Fallout after Ronaldo left the camp
The disagreement began in Copenhagen, where Ronaldo left Portugal’s squad after Jesus confirmed that Gonçalo Ramos would start against Denmark in the UEFA Nations League.
Portugal went on to win 4-2 without their long-serving forward, but the aftermath has extended well beyond the match. Jesus declined to discuss Ronaldo after the victory over Denmark.
The national team’s official Instagram account has also seen a sharp fall in its audience since Ronaldo’s exit. Its following dropped from 24.9 million to 23.4 million, a reduction of roughly 1.5 million accounts.
For Portugal, the result in Denmark brought three points; back in Lisbon, the images around the airport, the national stadium and the federation’s base showed that the debate around the captain remains far from settled.
