Cristiano Ronaldo Aims Another Swipe at Messi, Discredits Ballon d’Or, FIFA Best Awards

• Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed that the Ballon d'Or awards and FIFA best are losing credibility
• His rival, Lionel Messi, has won every major award since his World Cup win in 2022 in Qatar
• Ronaldo was recently given three awards at Globe Soccer Awards held in Dubai, UAE

Cristiano Ronaldo has once again downplayed Lionel Messi's recent wins in prestigious individual awards. The two have shared a long-standing football rivalry, competing for the top honours at the highest levels for over 15 years.

They have a combined 13 Ballon d'Ors among them, with only Karim Benzema and Luka Modric breaking the duopoly since 2008.

Messi collected his eighth Ballon d'Or on October 30 last year, taking him three clear of his rival following his World Cup win with Argentina the year before.

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Ronaldo on Ballon d'Or, FIFA awards

Ronaldo laughed off the award in an Instagram comment before personally addressing the awards in an interview with Record, via Timeline CR7,

"The Ballon d'Or award and the Best award are losing credibility."

The father of five then backed his success at the Globe Soccer Awards based on numbers.

"I did not watch the best ceremony awards. It is not to say Messi did not deserve it. Or Haaland, or even Mbappe. I simply no longer believe in these awards. It's not because I won at the Globe Soccer, but these are facts; the numbers are there and numbers don't lie. No one can take this away from me."

Messi scooped both awards last year before following it up with another FIFA Best award last week. He beat Erling Haaland on every occasion despite the Manchester City star winning the treble with Manchester City.

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Ronaldo granted the interview just a few hours after winning three awards at the 2023 Globe Soccer Awards. The Portuguese icon won the Maradona Award for the best goalscorer award, the Best Middle East player and the fan's favourite player of the year.

Messi did not receive any award from the ceremony which declared Haaland the best player of 2023.

Messi's silence on FIFA Best Awards

Sports Brief has also shone a light on Lionel Messi's prolonged silence after winning the 2023 FIFA Best Awards.

The Argentine often shares a post on his Instagram account after winning individual and collective trophies, but six days after winning FIFA's highest trophy, he has yet to share his usual public note of gratitude.

That Messi beat the treble-winning Erling Haaland to the 2023 award did not go down well in many quarters considering the 2022 World Cup was not a considered parameter in voting.