"Always waffling when Messi is winning," "Insecure crybaby" - Fans slam Cristiano Ronaldo as he claims Ballon d’Or has lost credibility
Cristiano Ronaldo's latest comments on the credibility of the Ballon d'Or and THE Best FIFA awards have not gone down well with a section of fans, who think the Portuguese is jealous that Lionel Messi won both awards recently.
Messi won the 2023 Ballon d'Or, mainly for leading Argentina to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He was also voted as The Best FIFA Men's Player 2023 recently ahead of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.
In a recent interview with Record, Ronaldo was quizzed about the controversy surrounding Messi winning the prestigious individual FIFA award. He replied by claiming that Ballon d'Or and The Best awards are losing their credibility.
His comments, however, did not go down well with some fans on social media, with one of them tweeting:
"Always waffling when Leo Messi is winning. What a shameless man. Leo clear of him all day."
Another fan commented:
"What an insecure crybaby."
Here are a few more reactions:
What Cristiano Ronaldo said about Ballon d'Or and The Best FIFA awards
In a recent interview with Portuguese outlet Record, Cristiano Ronaldo spoke about a plethora of topics, including the two prestigious individual awards in footballing circles.
Notably, he has won the Ballon d'Or on five occasions and The Best FIFA award three times in his storied career. But he claimed that he doesn't believe in these accolades anymore.
"I think that, in a way, the Ballon d'Or and The Best are losing credibility. It's not to say that Messi didn't deserve it, or Haaland or even Mbappé. I simply don't believe in these awards anymore. And It's not because I won at Globe Soccer. But they're facts, they're numbers.
"And numbers don't deceive. They can't take this trophy [for top scorer of the year] away from me because it's a reality. So it makes me even happier," he said (via All About Argentina).
Ronaldo finished as the top-scorer in the 2023 calendar year, with 54 goals for Al Nassr and the Portugal national team across competitions.