UEFA regulations settle the controversy: did Portugal deliberately use Ronaldo's shirt after his crisis?

Leão wears the number 7 shirt for the first time

Hours after Cristiano Ronaldo left the Portugal national team camp, Rafael Leao will wear the number 7 shirt that Don Cristiano made famous throughout his career, but did the Portuguese Football Federation do this deliberately in response to Don's behaviour?

UEFA published Portugal's squad list for the clash against Denmark, and it emerged that Leao will wear the number 7 shirt in Thursday's match in Copenhagen, part of the third round of the UEFA Nations League group stage.

Ronaldo, 41, announced on his social media accounts that he was leaving the Portugal camp in protest at the comments of coach Jorge Jesus.

Jesus had revealed that Ronaldo flew into a rage after failing to play a single minute against Norway on Sunday. The incident marked an exceptional moment in his international career: the first time in 18 years he had stayed on the substitutes' bench without taking part.

The Portuguese coach stressed that he decides the line-up, and that neither Ronaldo nor anyone else will influence him.

Having chosen to leave the camp, Ronaldo boarded a private jet bound for Madrid. His teammates headed to the Parken stadium in Copenhagen to train for the clash against Denmark.

The regulations impose themselves

With Ronaldo absent from the squad, Portugal had to hand the number 7 shirt to another player.

According to the Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo", UEFA Nations League regulations stipulate that players in the match squad are numbered from 1 to 23.

Leao had worn number 17 during Portugal's first two matches in the tournament. This time the Galatasaray winger takes the number that has belonged to Cristiano Ronaldo for years, with the fallout from the crisis still rumbling on.