‘Earned Not Given’ – Cristiano Ronaldo’s Sister Takes Jab At Lionel Messi After Historic Balon d’Or Win

Cristiano Ronaldo’s sister expressed her support for the Al-Nassr star and appeared to take a subtle jab at Lionel Messi following the Argentine’s Ballon d’Or victory.

Katia Aveiro left a comment on an Instagram post featuring an image of Ronaldo with his numerous individual awards, including his five Ballon d’Or accolades. The caption accompanying the post stated, “Earned, not given,” and Aveiro responded with five clapping emojis.

Many interpreted this image and comment as a slight directed at Messi, who secured his eighth Ballon d’Or on Monday. Messi was named the world’s best player for the past year after guiding Argentina to a World Cup victory in Qatar at the end of 2022. However, the decision to award Messi the prize has faced criticism, particularly after Erling Haaland played a pivotal role in Manchester City’s extraordinary European and English treble, scoring 52 goals across all competitions last season.

Ronaldo and Messi had dominated the Ballon d’Or awards for a decade from 2008. Nevertheless, Ronaldo claimed his fifth and final Ballon d’Or in 2017 and finished as the runner-up to Luka Modric the following year. Since then, Messi has won the award three more times.

Messi’s first appearance following his Ballon d’Or win will take place later this month as he prepares to represent Argentina in World Cup qualifying matches against Uruguay and Brazil. Meanwhile, Ronaldo is set to compete with Al-Nassr on Saturday when they face Al-Khaleej in the Saudi Pro League.