Cristiano Ronaldo Says Ballon d'Or And The Best FIFA Football Awards "Are Losing Credibility"

Cristiano Ronaldo has said that the Ballon d'Or and The Best FIFA Football Awards "are losing credibility". Ronaldo suggested that his Maradona Award means more.

Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed that the Ballon d'Or and The Best FIFA Football Awards "are losing credibility".

Lionel Messi won both prizes for 2023 before Erling Haaland was named the Best Men's Player at the 2023 Globe Soccer Awards ceremony in Dubai on Friday.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo won three Globe Soccer gongs on Friday.

The Al Nassr captain picked up the Best Middle East Player and Fans' Favourite Player of the Year awards. Both of those awards were decided by votes.

But Ronaldo's third prize was based purely on statistics as he received the Maradona Award for ending 2023 as the leading scorer in world soccer.

Cristiano Ronaldo pictured holding his trophy for the Maradona Award after being presented with it by Globe Soccer on Friday :: IMAGO/LaPresse/Fabio Ferrari

Ronaldo, who scored 54 goals in 59 games in 2023 for Al Nassr and Portugal, later told Record: "Ballon d'Or and The Best are losing credibility. Numbers are reality.

"We have to analyze the entire season. It's not to say that Messi didn't deserve the award, or Haaland or even [Kylian] Mbappe. I simply no longer believe in these awards.

"It's not because I won at the Globe Soccer but these are facts, numbers are there and they don't deceive. They can't take this trophy away from me because it is a reality. I'm happier because the numbers are facts.

"If you go back and see what happened at Man United and Portugal, people actually considered me lost. But the truth is that I focused and had a great period at Al Nassr, that's why I scored 54 goals."

Ronaldo had previously won the Best Player of the Year Award from Globe Soccer six times since it was launched in 2011. He is the only player to win the award more than once.

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United forward won the Ballon d'Or in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017, but he is now three wins behind 2023 winner Messi.

Messi has also won The Best FIFA Men's Player award more times than Ronaldo. The Portuguese icon won the first two editions of the award in 2016 and 2017 but he has not received it since, while Messi took the prize for 2019, 2022 and 2023.

Lionel Messi pictured in October 2023 holding the Ballon d'Or trophy after winning the award for an eighth time :: IMAGO/Xinhua