Cristiano Ronaldo birthday special coverage: Check Cristiano Ronaldo age, stats, total goals, career records, trophies and net worth details.
The FIFA World Player of the Year took over from England and Real Madrid midfielder David Beckham, who topped the list for the last three years.
Barcelona and Argentine forward Lionel Messi is the highest-paid football player in the world, ahead of David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, according to France Football magazine.
Juventus midfielder Pavel Nedved has been named European Footballer of the Year, France Football magazine confirmed on Monday.
The Ballon d'Or, which is awarded annually since 1956, is one of the most prestigious individual honours in football.
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won the award five times, did not receive a nomination for the first time in 20 years.
The Ballon d'Or will not be awarded this year for the first time in its 64-year history after the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the football calendar, organisers France Football magazine said on Monday. The prestigious award, voted for by journalists, is an annual prize given to the best male footballer in the world since 1956. The women's Ballon d'Or was first awarded in 2018.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Last year's winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina's Lionel Messi were among the 30 players on the 2009 Ballon d'Or award shortlist released on Sunday but Italian and German players were conspicuous by their absence.
Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro has been named European Footballer of the Year by France Football magazine, Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon said on Friday.
Ronaldo's nomination comes after the 33-year-old last week denied rape allegations levelled against him by a woman who sued him in court in the United States.
Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema was named French player of the year by France Football magazine on Tuesday.
France defender William Gallas has been stripped of the Arsenal captaincy after criticising his team mates, French media reported on Friday. France Football magazine's website (www.francefootball.fr) said Gallas had also been left out of the squad for Saturday's Premier League match at Manchester City. Arsenal declined to comment on whether Gallas had been removed as club captain.
Argentina's Lionel Messi won the World Player of the Year for the second time in a row on Monday and Jose Mourinho walked off with the coach's award, leaving Spain's World Cup winners disappointed.
Chelsea's Didier Drogba said he lost his passion for football last summer after the death of his grandmother.
Seven times reigning winner Lionel Messi was not nominated for this year's Ballon d'Or for the first time since 2005 and nor was his Paris Saint-Germain team mate Neymar.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he remains hopeful of keeping talismanic striker Thierry Henry at the London club next season.
Franck Ribery, who has been shortlisted for the prestigious FIFA-Ballon d'Or award, was named French Player of the Year on Tuesday by France Football magazine.
Italy striker Mario Balotelli said he would "kill" anyone who threw a banana at him in the street during the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine next month.
Some Arsenal players appear to have lost faith in manager Arsene Wenger and are more concerned with their image, former midfielder Emmanuel Petit believes.
The list of candidates to win the 2009 Ballon d'Or award was reduced to 10 men on Sunday, with Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi the overwhelming favourite.
Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko of AC Milan was named European Footballer of the Year on Monday.
World Cup winners Spain have seven players featured in a 23-man shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d'Or unveiled by soccer's governing body and France Football magazine on Tuesday.
Barcelona's Xavi, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta are on the shortlist for the first FIFA Ballon D'Or award for the best player in the world to be presented on Monday at a ceremony that gets bigger by the year.
Ronaldo says 2002 was like a dream come true but he believes Roberto Carlos deserved to be named Footballer of the Year as much as he did
Former French midfielder Zinedine Zidane is glad he was sent-off for his head-butt in the 2006 World Cup final because he has not had to live with regret over escaping punishment.
The England captain tops with earnings of $27 million in the 2003/04 season, while Ronaldo is second with 16.5 million.
"I want to leave Chelsea. Something is broken with the club," Didier Drogba told the France Football magazine.
Real Madrid's David Beckham is the best paid soccer player in the world, according to a survey published in France Football magazine.
Should the Portugal forward triumph, he will equal the record of his great rival and five-time winner Lionel Messi of Barcelona, who is also nominated.
Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi, who have won the award 10 times between them, are included
'We had already started thinking about how to set a new calendar from 2024, now with this crisis we need immediate answers'
Under the new system, half the votes would belong to the players and coaches of the world's 211 national teams and half to the public, who will take part via an online ballot, and selected media representatives.
'I know that he has pushed me to be a better player and I have pushed him to be a better player as well.'
Manchester United and Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded the 2008 Ballon d'Or, French magazine France Football said on its website (http://www.francefootball.fr ) Tuesday.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo and his Real Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale have been shortlisted for this year's coveted Ballon d'Or award.
Olympique Lyonnais and Norway forward Ada Hegerberg won the inaugural Ballon d'Or award for the best player in women's football on Monday but the moment was tarnished when DJ Martin Solveig asked her to 'twerk'
The Barca striker said he wants to win the Primera Liga, the Champions League, FIFA's player of the year and the Golden Ball
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will resume their perennial battle to be crowned the world's best footballer after they headed the shortlist of 30 players for the 2016 Ballon d'Or announced on Monday.
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