Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to miss Ballon d'Or ceremony tonight
The Ballon d’Or award will be announced later tonight and while the whole world is on tenterhooks as to who will win the prestigious individual prize, the two favourites for the award, Ronaldo and Messi are set to miss out on the ceremony.
It is widely expected that Cristiano Ronaldo will beat Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann and claim his fourth Ballon d’Or award today. The Portuguese superstar has had an astounding year having won the Champions League and Euro championships.
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The announcement will be made at 7:00 PM GMT tonight and the following day, France Football the organisers of the event will publish an exclusive interview with the winner. From today evening, L’Equipe will start announcing the votes each of the 30 candidates have received.
While Ronaldo is tipped to win, the Real Madrid superstar will not be present in Paris as he has already flown out to Japan with the rest of the Real Madrid squad to take part in the Club World Cup.
Ronaldo’s long time rival, Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi will also not be present as he is in Qatar currently to play a friendly and will in all likelihood not able to make it. While the Argentine maestro might not be the favourite for the award, he has still had an amazing year.
This year, after 6 years FIFA and Ballon d’Or have split up and the votes will be cast by 173 respected journalists worldwide. Other than Ronaldo and Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale are the other contenders.
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While there can be little to argue about in terms of Suarez’s numbers, the fact that he missed out on the Copa America Centenario and his past misdemeanours mean that he will always be viewed with a different perspective and is unlikely to garner enough support from the journalists.
Antoine Griezmann had an excellent year, but the fact that he lost out narrowly in the Champions League and the Euro to Cristiano Ronaldo might see him miss out.
The award will be announced tonight and in all probability, the winner will not be around to collect the award in the glitzy ceremony.