Portugal team officials say door is open for Cristiano Ronaldo to return after ‘misunderstanding’

LISBOA, Portugal (AP) — Portugal wants Cristiano Ronaldo to know he's welcome back to the national team, if he so desires.

Portugal coach Jorge Jesus and federation president Pedro Proença have downplayed the “misunderstanding” that led to Ronaldo’s decision to leave the national team's training camp last week, saying after a 2-1 win over Norway in the Nations League on Sunday that the veteran star can return whenever he wants.

“We are talking about the greatest player of all time, a player who has given more than two decades to Portuguese soccer,” Proença told Portuguese television channel RTP. "He will always be part of this squad if he is technically fit to play. Cristiano knows this. He knows that is the sentiment. What happened was a misunderstanding that needs to be resolved internally.”

The 41-year-old Ronaldo walked out on Portugal’s training camp on Wednesday, hours after Jesus said the veteran star would not start in a game against Denmark in the Nations League. Jesus had kept Ronaldo on the bench in a previous match despite saying he would play.

Ronaldo said after leaving that in due course he would “tell the Portuguese people the truth about the reasons” behind his departure, but has not commented on the situation since.

Jesus said Sunday he had no reason to apologize to anyone, and that he would call up Ronaldo again for the next international break if the player wants to come back.

“I don’t know what Cris will decide,” Jesus said after Portugal’s win. “To me, there was never an issue. There are non-negotiable principles for a coach, but since there were no issues regarding my authority, for me, if Cris wants to return, he will be eligible for the next call-up, as long as he is playing for Al Nassr. It's up to him.”

Proença said there will be time for everyone to sit down and discuss the situation.

“Ronaldo is a symbol of our country. He is a Portuguese icon, an absolutely extraordinary player who could have ended his international career after the World Cup but chose not to out of love for the national team,” Proença said.

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Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo arrives for training in Copenhagen, Denmark, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, ahead of their Nations League soccer match against Denmark. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

A fan pose wearing Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo shirt on the stands during halftime of the Nations League soccer match between Portugal and Norway in Porto, Portugal, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)

A fan wearing Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo shirt on the stands waits for the start of the Nations League soccer match between Portugal and Norway in Porto, Portugal, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)

A child holds a "Thank you" poster for Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo on the stands before the Nations League soccer match between Portugal and Norway in Porto, Portugal, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)

Fans on the stands holds masks of Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo during the Nations League soccer match between Portugal and Norway in Porto, Portugal, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)

Russian authorities have quarantined a hospital and are monitoring contacts of an employee at a plague research institute in Siberia who contracted pneumonia of an “unknown” cause. Local state TV said the woman died last week.

Russian authorities said they found no evidence that her illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with. But the case has raised alarm in Russia after unconfirmed media reports suggested she might have died of pneumonic plague — a less common but severe form of plague that can spread from person to person.

The woman worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East in Irkutsk, southeastern Siberia. A state TV station in Irkutsk reported Monday that she died last week in a hospital in Shelekhov, a town just outside Irkutsk.

The hospital has been placed under quarantine, Mayor Maxim Modin said Friday, no longer admitting or discharging patients, and its laboratory halted carrying out routine tests. The hospital's outpatient clinic kept operating as usual, he said.

Anna Popova, head of Russia’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, flew to Irkutsk and met with Gov. Igor Kobzev and other officials on Friday.

Kobzev said everyone who came into contact with the woman is under medical supervision. He didn’t identify the infection and called it a suspected case of “a particularly dangerous infection.”

Rospotrebnadzor was implementing “a full range of anti-epidemic measures,” he added.

Rospotrebnadzor said Sunday the woman was diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology,” and said “extensive” testing found “no microorganisms associated with the patient’s professional activities.”

The agency also said it didn't uncover any incidents at the institute “involving pathogenic microorganisms."

Two people who were in contact with the woman tested positive for a virus that causes a common cold and two others for COVID-19, the agency said, adding that others who were tested were all negative.

Independent local news outlet Lyudi Baikala quoted sources it did not identify as saying the woman died from pneumonic plague and that several Irkutsk hospitals were placed under quarantine.

Asked Monday to comment on the case, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the public and media should follow official statements from Rospotrebnadzor, rather than "rumors or speculation.”

The Irkutsk Aluminum Plant in Shelekhov required staff to wear masks as a precaution, its director Artyom Fominykh said Saturday on Telegram, calling for calm and adding: "Better be safe than sorry.”

The World Health Organization describes pneumonic plague as a less common but severe form of plague — a disease caused by Yersinia pestis, a bacterium usually found in small mammals and their fleas.

This undated photo released by the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East, shows the institute workers in a lab. (The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East via AP)