Cristiano Ronaldo fans have voiced their anger on social media following a ‘disrespectful’ moment involving the Manchester United star at Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony.Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, missed the ceremony in Paris. The 36-year-old finished sixth in the voting behind N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema, Jorginho, Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi, who won the award for a record-breaking seventh time.Ronaldo slammed France Football’s editor in chief, Pascal Ferre, in an Instagram statement published on Monday for claiming that his one and only ambition left in football is to finish his career with more Ballon d’Or awards than Messi.“It is unacceptable that the person responsible for awarding such a prestigious prize could lie in this way, in absolute disrespect for someone who has always respected France Football and the Ballon d'Or,” Ronaldo wrote. “And he lied again today when justifying my absence from the Gala with an alleged quarantine that has no reason to exist.”While Cristiano will have been doing anything other than watching Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony by the sounds of it, his fans still tuned in to find out where their hero finished in the rankings.To their shock, Ronaldo missed out on the Ballon d’Or’s top five for the first time since 2010.
Ronaldo fans unhappy with 'disrespectful' Ballon d'Or moment
They were also dismayed when a huge image of an old front cover of Vanity Fair was shown featuring Ronaldo alongside Didier Drogba, who co-hosted Monday’s awards, stood in their underwear.
The camera immediately cut to Messi, Lewandowski and Mbappe, who were all seen on the verge of laughter.
Drogba himself, perhaps light-heartedly, asked why the image was shown.
Watch the footage here:
Would they have shown this front cover to a global audience if Ronaldo *had* attended the ceremony?
We’ll never know the answer to that question but Ronaldo’s fans are not happy. They believe the organisers of the Ballon d’Or ceremony were being disrespectful:
Have we seen Ronaldo appear at his final Ballon d’Or ceremony?
It’s certainly beginning to feel that way.