Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly ready to grace the annual Ballon d’Or ceremony for the very first time since 2017, which was the last year he won the prestigious award, Newspremises has gathered.
According to report via Le Parisien, the Portugal captain will not be attending the ceremony for himself, he will however, try to make the awards for his former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema.
Benzema is the favourite player to win the award this year after a stellar 2021/22 campaign with Real Madrid.
Benzema scored a remarkable 44 goals in 46 appearances across all competitions for Real Madrid last season, helping his side win the La Liga and Champions League. He has not hit these heights in 2022/23, but that will little affect his chances of clinching a maiden Ballon d’Or.
Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009 and played alongside Benzema for nine years, before eventually leaving for Juventus in 2018.
The pair have fond memories together at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where they historically won three Champions League titles in a row.
Ronaldo previously snubbed 2018, 2019 and 2021 editions of the ceremony since it was clear he would not be winning – despite being among the nominees each time.
In this year’s edition, Ronaldo was also nominated but his arch-rival Lionel Messi, the current Ballon d’Or holder, was sensationally snubbed due to the tame debut season he had at Paris Saint-Germain.
Back in June, Benzema did an interview with Onze Mondial where he hailed Ronaldo for helping him prolong his career, saying:
“I dissected everything about Ronaldo. That’s why I can say: it’s impossible to achieve the same.”
