Dolores Aveiro, Cristiano Ronaldo’s mother has raised the spectre of a football mafia conspiring against her son and believes it was the mafia that denied him a sixth Ballon d’Or recently.
Aveiro claimed Ronaldo was denied the honour because of his nationality. The honour went to Ronaldo’s rival Argentine and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.
Aveiro was quoted to have made the claim about football conspiracy at an event in Portugal, reports livescore.com.
“There is a mafia in football, that’s the right word to describe it,” Dolores Aveiro told Portuguese media.
Cristiano Ronaldo
“If you look at everything that’s happened you will realise that it is because of the mafia.
“If Cristiano was Spanish or English, they would not do what they did to him, but since he is Portuguese and from Madeira, well, this happens.”
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star earned global fame and adulation for his performances in the Premier League and LaLiga but slipped to second in the 2018 Ballon d’Or rankings while midway through his first Serie A campaign.
In September, he finished third in the voting for the title of The Best FIFA Men’s Player, behind Lionel Messi and Virgil van Dijk
Ronaldo, Juve’s record signing, was named Serie A’s Most Valuable Player at the end of the 2018-19 season and helped Portugal triumph in the Nations League.
The 34-year-old’s mother expects those efforts will be enough for him to beat Barcelona captain Messi to a sixth Ballon d’Or when the 2019 winner is announced.
“I don’t know if he will receive it, but I am confident and I think he deserves it,” she said, despite fearing he will be the victim of bias.
“If we analyse what he did during the season, he deserves it.”
