Vincent Garcia, the Ballon d’Or chief, has disclosed that Cristiano Ronaldo no longer participates in the voting process.
Garcia hinted that Ronaldo is one of the players who are “very disappointed” with the award decisions.
Despite winning the prestigious award five times, he has not been named the best footballer in the world since 2017, coming second to Lionel Messi who has eight titles.
Following Messi’s most recent win in 2023, Ronaldo liked an Instagram post criticizing Messi for winning three Ballons d’Or too many.
Surprisingly, neither Messi nor Ronaldo made it to the 30-man shortlist this year, marking the first time in 21 years that they haven’t been nominated.
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.”
