Controversy about Ronaldo not being nominated for the Ballon d'Or

After the first half of the 2022-2023 season was disgraced at Man Utd, Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Nassr. In 33 matches with the new club, he scored 26 goals, winning a collective title. Recently, he reached a record of 850 goals in football history, in official matches at the club level and calculating FIFA points at the team level. However, in the list of nominations for the Golden Ball 2023, he was not present. This is the first time this has happened since 2004.

"Ronaldo's fans laughed at Messi for not being on the Golden Ball nomination list last year," account @BeksFCB wrote on social network X on the evening of September 6, after the announcement by France Football magazine. "Guess who will win and who won't be nominated."

@Fellow Kenyan thinks Ronaldo's absence is not surprising. @James affirmed that the Portuguese superstar was out of time, while @BlackMamba said that removing Ronaldo from the nomination list was a "brutal way to end the competition".

However, many opinions still support Ronaldo. "I swear this year's Ballon d'Or is against Ronaldo," @Morgan wrote.

@MrLinah believes that Ronaldo's absence is not a problem when he has won everything and is the best player of all time. Meanwhile, @Jharden1984 added: "This is a joke. We all know Ronaldo is better."

However, according to commentator James Westwood of Goal site, Messi deserves more. He assessed the Argentina captain as a rare player who can win matches by himself, while Haaland has to wait for passes from teammates. Westwood also believes that Man City does not rely on the Norwegian striker in difficult situations, and that the Premier League's top scorer needs to perfect the game to increase the ability to decide the game.

"Haaland does not deserve to be mentioned in the same group as Messi," commented Westwood. "Argentina became world champion thanks to Messi, and that alone is enough to make him worthy of an eighth Ballon d'Or."

The Golden Ball nomination list includes 30 candidates. France Football magazine has been organizing elections since 1956 and voters are journalists around the world. Messi holds the record of winning seven Golden Balls, while Ronaldo is ranked second with five titles. This year's awards will be awarded at a ceremony in Paris, on October 30.