Portugal’s national football team has reportedly lost more than 1.4 million Instagram followers within 24 hours amid the controversy involving captain Cristiano Ronaldo and head coach Jorge Jesus.
A check of the team’s official Instagram account showed that its followers dropped from about 24.9 million to 23.5 million.
The decline came shortly after Ronaldo left Portugal’s training camp in Denmark following a reported disagreement with Jesus.
Ronaldo reportedly departed the camp on Wednesday after speaking with Portuguese Football Federation president Pedro Proença. He later confirmed his departure in an Instagram post, saying he would explain his reasons “in due time.”
The development followed Jesus’ decision to leave Ronaldo out of the starting lineup. Reports said the disagreement escalated after the coach publicly addressed the situation.
Ronaldo’s departure has since sparked widespread debate over his future with the Portuguese national team.
Portuguese media also reported a significant drop in the team’s social media following. A Bola reported that more than 300,000 followers were lost in less than 24 hours, while broadcaster Renascença, citing HypeAuditor data, reported a decline of more than 370,000 followers.
Some comments cited by A Bola and Goal indicated that certain users followed Portugal’s national team mainly because of Ronaldo.
Despite the controversy, Ronaldo remains one of the most-followed individuals on Instagram, with his account having about 679 million followers as of Friday.
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