Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) and Real Madrid have responded angrily to comments from FIFA president Sepp Blatter that appeared to make fun of the Real and Portugal forward.
So, who in your opinion, dear readers, is your favourite to win the prestigious prize at the ceremony in Zurich on January 12? Take your pick and vote now!
The 20-year-old Lionel Messi, three years Cristiano Ronaldo's junior, was the outstanding attacking player on show in the Champions League second leg semi-final and almost single-handedly led Barcelona's attempt to claw back Paul Scholes's early goal and take the 2006 winners through to Moscow with an away goal.
'Betrayed by Ronaldo'
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.
Cristiano Ronaldo has described his impending world record 80 million pounds move to Real Madrid as "historic" and is looking forward to starting a new stage of his career.
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his recent Ballon d'Or award by scoring twice for the first time in a La Liga game this season as champions Real Madrid swept to a stunning 5-0 win over Sevilla on Saturday to go five points behind leaders Barcelona.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who left Manchester United for Real Madrid for a world record 80.0 million pounds transfer fee last year has hinted he could return to Old Trafford in the future.
Cristiano Ronaldo has urged Real Madrid to renew his contract and said he wanted to see out his career in the Spanish capital. Ronaldo's immediate future at Real has been in doubt all season, with speculation growing throughout the year that he was plotting a move to Paris Saint-Germain but the prolific Portuguese has now made it clear he wants to stay at the club. "Real Madrid would be making a smart decision if they offered me a new contract," Ronaldo told Spanish television programme La Sexta on Wednesday. "I want to stay here, there have been good moments and bad moments. Four years ago I wasn't happy here but now I am and I can't think of a better club to be at than Real Madrid, there's no team like it. The other clubs can forget it." Ronaldo overtook Raul Gonzalez as Real's all-time top scorer earlier this season and on Saturday will be hoping to inspire the team to their 11th European Cup success when they take on Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final in Milan.
Unions representing the majority of workers at Fiat Chrysler in Italy rejected a strike called by an independent labour group in protest against the huge sums of money spent by Italy's Juventus soccer club to sign Cristiano Ronaldo.
Manchester United said on Thursday they have received a world record 80 million pound bid for forward Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid.
This is the first time a player other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo has topped the list in eight years.
Cristiano Ronaldo said he regretted taking the attention away from Real Madrid's third consecutive Champions League crown after hinting the 3-1 final victory over Liverpool was his last game but reiterated that he is not happy with the club.
Cristiano has been promised a record-breaking annual salary $18.5m a year to move to the Primera Liga club.
Cristiano Ronaldo struck the quickest hat-trick of his career on his way to netting five goals in Real Madrid's 9-1 drubbing of second-from-bottom Granada on Sunday which took Real to within a point of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Cristiano Ronaldo says he is "still handsome" after his face was left covered in blood from being kicked in the face against Deportivo La Coruna last week and declared he wants to remain at Real Madrid despite reports that he is unhappy in Spain.
Portugal's press gave a big salute to Cristiano Ronaldo and the entire national team on Thursday after their 2-0 win over Wales clinched a return to the European Championship final for the first time in 12 years.
The two key moments happened within six seconds of each other early in the match played behind closed doors at the Allianz Stadium.
World Player of the Year, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, said he had nothing more to prove in his career as he declared himself fit for Monday's World Cup Group G match against Germany.
Star Australian opener David Warner did a Cristiano Ronaldo during the ongoing T20 World Cup as he removed Coca Cola bottles placed in front of him during a press conference for a brief while.
Brazilian-born Marcelinho scored on his Bulgaria debut while Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty for Portugal as the visitors pulled off a shock 1-0 friendly win over the Euro 2016 finalists on Friday.
Cristiano Ronaldo has accepted that he needs to rest more and that sitting out the odd game is in the interests of him and Real Madrid, coach Zinedine Zidane said on Friday. Real's all-time top scorer has missed four of his team's 15 league games this season, two more than in the whole of the last campaign, and he was a surprise omission from the squad for Wednesday's King's Cup game against Sevilla. Zidane remarked last year that he would prefer Ronaldo to rest more after injuries forced him to miss vital games at the end of the season, although the Frenchman appears to have reached agreement with his talisman this campaign.
Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo has the potential to become as great a player as Pele or Diego Maradona, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said on Saturday. Ferguson's lavish praise comes during the latest war of words between United and Spanish giants Real Madrid over the future of the Ballon d'Or winner.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson paid fulsome tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday, after the Portugal winger's world record transfer to Real Madrid. 'Cristiano has been a marvellous player for Manchester United. His six years at Old Trafford have seen him develop into the best footballer in the world,' Ferguson told the Premier League club's website.
On Saturday he made the difference yet again with two goals to help Real Madrid secure a third Champions League title in four years as they crushed Juventus 4-1 in a riveting final.
Cristiano Ronaldo has led Real Madrid's charge to their first La Liga title in four years, and still has the chance to overhaul Lionel Messi to retain his league top scorer award before the end of the season.
A wounded Portugal, still smarting from a 4-0 defeat by Germany, are fervently hoping that talismanic forward Cristiano Ronaldo is fit when they take on the United States in their second World Cup Group G game on Sunday.
Al-Nassr last week cancelled their two-game China tour due to the absence of the 38-year-old Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo reassured Real Madrid fans he will be fit to play in Saturday's Champions League final against Atletico Madrid in Milan after limping out of Tuesday's training session.
The trailer of the documentary film, titled Ronaldo, which was released by the man himself on his Twitter page, captures moments of his on-field brilliance and provides an in-depth look into the person beyond the footballer.
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo opened a museum in his honour in his birthplace on Sunday, which he said had extra room for the Ballon d'Or and many other trophies to come.
Real's Cristiano Ronaldo will be going in search of his third consecutive World Player of the Year award
Cristiano Ronaldo showed nerves of steel to score an injury-time penalty and send holders Real Madrid into the semi-finals of the Champions League in extraordinary circumstances as they lost 3-1 to Juventus on Wednesday but won a thrilling tie 4-3 on aggregate.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said there was nothing wrong with talisman Cristiano Ronaldo as the Portuguese marked his longest run without scoring at the Santiago Bernabeu with a near anonymous display in a 3-0 win over Leganes on Sunday. A Gareth Bale double and a second half strike from Alvaro Morata sealed the win that kept Real top of La Liga but Zidane faced further questions about the form of Ronaldo, who has not scored in five home games, his longest run without a goal in front of Real's fans since joining the club in 2009. Ronaldo's last goal at the Bernabeu came against Sporting Lisbon on Sept. 14. His only goal there in the league was against Osasuna on Sept. 10.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi scored twice as Ronaldo's Real Madrid came from behind to beat promoted Hercules 3-1 and Messi's Barcelona humbled 10-man Sevilla 5-0 in La Liga on Saturday.
Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo was poised to join Arsenal before Manchester United offered three times as much money, the Ballon d'Or winner said in an interview published Friday. 'I was within an inch of (joining Arsenal),' Ronaldo told France Football. 'I have a lot of respect for (manager Arsene) Wenger, he is a very clever man.'
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo posted an adorable photograph of his newborn twins on Thursday.
"It would be a big deal, increasing the team's appeal and also because it would bigger business for Juve, through merchandising," a Milan-based trader said.
Juventus came from behind to snatch a dramatic 3-2 win at Chievo as Cristiano Ronaldo made his debut for the Turin side on Saturday, although the Portuguese was not among the scorers in his first Serie A match.
Football's world governing body FIFA named Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery as the three nominations from a 10-player shortlist for the Ballon d'Or award. The winner will be announced on January 13.
