Legendary Portuguese footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo has chosen to abstain from voting in the Ballon d'Or awards, as revealed by Vincent Garcia, the Ballon d'Or chief.
This decision comes amidst suggestions that Ronaldo is "very upset" with the award rulings. Historically, Ronaldo has been a dominant figure in the Ballon d'Or landscape, having won the prestigious award five times, second only to his long-time rival Lionel Messi, who has claimed it eight times.
Ronaldo's discontent seems to have been exacerbated following Messi's latest victory in 2023. After this win, Ronaldo liked an Instagram post that controversially suggested Messi had won three Ballons d'Or more than he deserved. Notably, for the first time in 21 years, neither Ronaldo nor Messi made the 30-man shortlist for the 2024 award.
Garcia mentioned, "Winners have the right to come back to all future ceremonies but they don’t all come, some are very upset with us. I don’t know for certain Cristiano is, I don’t talk to him directly, but I know for example that former winners vote for the Kopa Trophy – for the best young player – and Cristiano didn’t vote last year and he didn’t vote this year either."
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