Ballon d'Or chief suggests Cristiano Ronaldo 'very upset' with award ruling as CR7 abstains from voting and ceremony

The Portuguese superstar boasts five Golden Balls within his remarkable trophy collection, but has not been named the best player on the planet since 2017. That success pulled him level with eternal rival Lionel Messi, but the Argentine icon has added another three to his tally since then.

After Messi’s latest triumph in 2023, Ronaldo liked an Instagram post from a Madrid-based journalist that claimed the World Cup-winning forward had won three Ballons d’Or too many. Neither Messi nor Ronaldo have made the list of contenders for the 2024 award – the first time that has happened in 21 years.

Garcia - who is editor of France Football, the publication that has handed out the Golden Ball since 1956 – is unsure whether Ronaldo will attend the latest ceremony as he has taken to passing up his voting rights. Garcia told The Times: "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."

While Messi and Ronaldo, who are now plying their respective trades in MLS and the Saudi Pro League for Inter Miami and Al-Nassr, are not on the 2024 shortlist, Garcia believes they would still have attracted support. He added: "If they were on the shortlist this year, I’m sure they would have got some votes."

France Football are not in the business of trying to keep everyone happy with sentimental votes, with Garcia revealing that he has received complaints in the recent for past for favouring head over heart. He said, having overlooked Kylian Mbappe in 2023 when casting his vote on behalf France: "Last year I received a message from someone who was very unhappy about my vote. It didn’t last."

The 2024 Ballon d’Or will be handed out a glitzy ceremony in Paris on Monday. Jude Bellingham and Rodri - who looked horns in the Euro 2024 final when representing England and Spain - are among the leading contenders but Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior is expected to land the top prize on the back of his La Liga and Champions League-winning exploits in 2023-24.