Ronaldo heading home for assessment

Real Madrid have confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo will travel to Portugal for an assessment of his ankle injury in a new twist to the superstar’s club-versus-country dispute.

Ronaldo was called up by Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz for the two-leg World Cup play-off against Bosnia-Herzegovina despite Real insisting the player will not be fit to return to action for at least a fortnight.

The Spanish giants believed FIFA’s regulations on the status and transfer of players for international duty gave Ronaldo the right to be assessed by the Portuguese federation’s medical staff in Spain, but the player will now return home for a fitness check.

A statement on Real’s official website read: “Real Madrid wishes to announce that Cristiano Ronaldo will travel to Portugal in the next few hours to put himself at the disposal of the medical services of the Portuguese federation.”

Queiroz and the Portuguese federation (FPF) have now got their wish to perform their own assessment of the player, who suffered his injury playing for Real against Marseille in the Champions League on September 30.

Last night Real Madrid sent medical documents to the Portuguese federation relating to Ronaldo’s injury in a bid to end the dispute.

A statement issued by Madrid to Spanish sports newspaper Marca read: “On Monday we sent the Portuguese federation all the medical evidence, from both our physician and (Dutch specialist) Niek van Dijk, which indicated that Ronaldo is injured.”