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          VAR Review: Why was Cristiano Ronaldo sent off for Portugal?

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          Was Cristiano Ronaldo unlucky to be sent off vs. Ireland? (2:33)

          The 'ESPN FC TV' crew debate if Cristiano Ronaldo deserved to be sent off in Portugal's 2-0 defeat against Ireland. (2:33)

          • Andy Davies, Special to ESPN
          Nov 14, 2025, 06:00 AM ET

          The video assistant referee (VAR) causes controversy every week, but how are decisions made and are they correct?

          This season, we take a look at the major incidents to examine and explain the process both in terms of the VAR protocol and the laws of the game.

          All screenshots photo credit: TUDN

          Andy Davies (@andydaviesref) is a former Select Group referee, with over 12 seasons on the elite list, working across the Premier League and Championship. With extensive experience at the elite level, he has operated within the VAR space in the Premier League and offers a unique insight into the processes, rationale and protocols that are delivered on a Premier League matchday.

          Republic of Ireland 2-0 Portugal

          Referee: Glenn Nyberg
          VAR: Pol van Boekel
          Incident: Cristiano Ronaldo sent off for violent conduct following an on-field review (OFR).
          Time: 59th minute

          What happened: With the Republic of Ireland defending their box, a coming together between Republic of Ireland's Dara O'Shea and Ronaldo, left the Ireland defender on the floor. Ronaldo made a crying gesture and signaled it was a dive, but Swedish referee Nyberg awarded a free kick against him and produced a yellow card for adopting an aggressive attitude.

          VAR decision: Having viewed the footage, the VAR recommended an OFR for a possible act of violent conduct by Ronaldo and an upgrade of the sanction from a yellow card to a red.

          VAR review: The footage reviewed by the VAR clearly showed a deliberate action by Ronaldo on O'Shea. The process was then to determine if the action was an aggressive act and met the threshold for an OFR.

          Boekel and his assistant VAR believed that this was a deliberate swinging elbow by Ronaldo. And, regardless of the point of contact on O'Shea, the action accompanied a level of force which met the criteria for a violent act.

          Boekel recommended an OFR to Nyberg who consulted his pitchside monitor and agreed -- he rescinded his original yellow card for Ronaldo and produced a red instead.

          Verdict: A positive and correct intervention by the VAR in this event. When a player is so deliberate in their aggressive actions against an opponent, the threshold for a violent act tends to be lower. However, this was a clear elbow offence by Ronaldo, regardless of the point contact.

          This was a blow to the upper body of O'Shea, however it is the action that is judged and not the contact -- the law states a red-card offence is when "a player strikes or attempts to strike an opponent."

          The original on-field incident was, in my opinion, not seen fully by Nyberg or his assistants. It was an off-the-ball incident when the play was live, so it was understandably not picked up in real time; the hesitation in their body language and questions over the communication between the officials would have meant it was a process of piecing together what probably happened rather than relying on the facts.

          However, this is another good example of VAR working as it should.

          Ronaldo clearly didn't agree, and left the field sarcastically applauding the officials.