Cristiano Ronaldo Declines To VOTE In Ballon d’Or Winner And Abstain From The Award Ceremony.

• The Ballon d'Or gala will be held on Monday, October 28 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The French venue has hosted the ceremony since the 2019 edition of the Ballon d'Or.

• It will reportedly be co-hosted by French-British journalist Sandy Heribert and former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.

• Brazil's Vinicius as the big favorite to take the award for the best male footballer of the year, while Spain's Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas, aspire to be chosen as the best female players.

Football's finest will descend on Paris for this year's Ballon d'Or ceremony, but there's likely to be one glaring omission.

As anticipation builds for one of football's most prestigious award ceremonies, the Ballon d'Or 2024, a fiercely competitive list of candidates by Leading publication France Football magazines are vying for the coveted accolade.

Among those listed are, Vinicius Jr., who scored 26 goals and 12 assists last season in which he won the Champions League and LaLiga with Real Madrid alongside his teammate Jude Bellingham, and Spanish midfielder Rodri, who was key in Spain's title in the European Championship and Manchester City's in the Premier League.

Other names in the conversation are Dani Carvajal, for winning the Euros, Champions League and the LaLiga, as well as the recently retired Toni Kroos. Other possible candidates are Phil Foden and Lamine Yamal.

As the football world awaits this year's winners, a decisive factor to claim the award remains the ballots.

CloudNine Sports understands that all previous winners of the award, have the privilege to attend the lavish ceremony each year, and cast their votes, yet it appears that Cristiano Ronaldo who has won the award five times, may be opting out of both the event and the voting process altogether.

Despite maintaining high performances in recent years, the Portuguese star has not won the Ballon d’Or since 2017.

France Football Editor Vincent Garcia the chief of Ballon d'Or, commented on Ronaldo's absence, indicating that the 39-year-old is among those who are "very upset" with decisions regarding the awards and may unlikely participate in or attend future Ballon d’Or ceremonies.

"Winners have the right to come back to all future ceremonies but they don't all come, some are very upset with us," Garcia told The Times.

"I don't know for certain how Cristiano feels. I don't talk to him directly, but I know for example that former winners vote for the Kopa Trophy, for the best young player - and Cristiano didn't vote last year and he didn't vote this year."

You may recall that Ronaldo, who moved to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr in December 2022, was left off the 30-man Ballon d'Or shortlist last year for the first time since 2003.

His five award wins place him second behind Messi, who has claimed the award eight times.

Ronaldo also abstained from voting last year and even expressed his discontent by supporting criticisms on social media aimed at Lionel Messi’s for his extra award wins.

After Messi won his eighth Ballond'or in 2023, the Al Nasser star liked an Instagram post from a Madrid-based reporter  suggesting that Messi had undeservedly won three of his Ballon d’Or awards, as he should have five.

Ronaldo also commented underneath the post 'factos' with four laughing emojis.

This is the first time in 21 years, both Ronaldo and Messi was not included in this year’s 30-man shortlist, despite Messi leading Argentina to Copa América glory.

Commenting on their absence from the nominations, Garcia noted, "Had they been on the shortlist this year, I have no doubt they would have garnered votes.

"Even though they are not contenders for the Ballon d'Or in 2024, both legends continue to lead their teams, with Messi making waves for Inter Miami in the MLS and Ronaldo showcasing his talent in the Saudi Arabia."

There's been just two occasions since 2008 when either Ronaldo or Messi did not win the Ballon d'Or, with the two exceptions being Luka Modric in 2018 and Karim Benzema in 2022.