Portugal national team loses 1.5 million followers after Ronaldo scandal
Portugal's official national team pages saw mass unfollows after Cristiano Ronaldo's departure. On Instagram alone, the audience shrank by roughly 9 million people in a single day.
Yulduz Salimov2 min read
The official pages of Portugal's national football team have faced a mass exodus of followers on social media after Cristiano Ronaldo left the national side. In just one day, the team's Instagram account lost around 9 million followers: before Ronaldo's departure, 32.4 million people followed the page; after the unfollows, that number dropped to 23.5 million.
Total losses across various platforms, according to available data, continue to grow.
Reason for the departure
The trigger for Ronaldo's exit was disagreements with the coaching staff over the situation surrounding his omission from matches. The 41-year-old forward had earlier left the national team's training camp ahead of the UEFA Nations League match against Denmark and announced his decision on Instagram, promising to explain his reasons later.
Fan reaction
Fans around the world reacted furiously to the player's departure. Many openly admitted that they had followed the account for Ronaldo, not for the team itself.
"It's like the population of a small country," "I unfollowed the account in support of Ronaldo. You can't treat the greatest player, a legend, like that. And what's the point of following if there's no Cris," "Should we side with a quitter? Who abandoned his country, his team and left. Is it normal to support someone like that?"
The 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo still holds records for the national team — 144 goals scored and 234 matches played.
Source: rbc.ru
