Portuguese football ace Cristiano Ronaldo has won the esteemed 2016 Ballon d'Or award.
The decision was announced by France Football magazine in Ballon d'Or ceremony on 12 December 2016.
This is Ronaldo’s fourth Ballon d'Or award.
He won his first award in 2008, the same year in which he won the FIFA World Player of the Year.
He subsequently won the 2013 and 2014 honours as well.
In 2015, he was beaten by Argentina’s Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo won by a good margin. Messi came second followed by France’s Antoine Griezmann in the third position. Luis Suarez and Neymar also made it into the top 5.
This is the third major honour for the footballer this year.
His club, Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League 2016 and his national team Portugal won the UEFA Euro 2016.
This was the 9th year in a row that either Messi or Ronaldo won the prestigious honour. The last player to win the award before their domination began was Kaka in 2007.
Know About the Ballon d'Or Award- Annual association football award.
- Presented by French magazine France Football.
- Voting is done by sports journalists.
- Ballon d’Or was merged with FIFA World Player of the Year in 2010.
- Considered the most prestigious honour in football.
- Messi won the inaugural FIFA Ballon d’Or.
- Award was reintroduced in 2016.
- FIFA introduced the Best FIFA Football Awards.
