This archive report was first published on 4 December 2019.
Giorgio Chiellini Accuses Real Madrid of Blocking Ronaldo from Winning 6th Ballon d'Or ¶
Giorgio Chiellini, a Juventus defender, has made a shocking claim that Real Madrid blocked Cristiano Ronaldo from winning his sixth Ballon d'Or award in 2018.
According to Chiellini, Ronaldo's impressive performance with Real Madrid in the 2017/18 season, which included winning the Champions League trophy, should have earned him the Ballon d'Or award.
However, the award went to Luca Modric, a Croatian star who had an impressive year during the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Chiellini's comments come after Ronaldo was beaten to the Ballon d'Or award by Lionel Messi on December 2, with Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk finishing in second place.
Chiellini, who shared the podium with Ronaldo as he clinched the Serie A player of the year award in Milan, slammed Real Madrid for blocking their record goal scorer from having his sixth Ballon d'Or glory.
He said, 'It's ok that Messi has won the Ballon d'Or this year. The real theft was last year, Real Madrid decided that Cristiano should not win the Ballon d'Or. It was really strange.'
Chiellini also questioned the decision to award Modric the Ballon d'Or, saying, 'Maybe last year Griezmann, Pogba or Mbappe should have won for doing extraordinary things at the World Cup. Modric made no sense.'
