Cristiano Ronaldo’s sister appeared to aim a dig at Lionel Messi after the Argentine’s Ballon d’Or win on Monday.
Messi scooped the prestigious award for the eighth time in his career, owing to his heroic displays in helping Argentina win their third World Cup.
Journalists from across the globe were given the opportunity to vote to choose the best player from the 2022/23 season and Messi’s exploits in Qatar were recognised as the key factor in his latest success.
The Inter Miami star saw off the challenge of Erling Haaland and former Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe while long-time rival Ronaldo, failed to make the 30-man shortlist.
Monday’s award means Messi now has three more Ballon d’Or wins than Ronaldo who has scooped five – his last coming in 2017.
But the Argentine's triumph this week led to Ronaldo’s sister aiming a subtle dig at him on an Instagram post.
Katia Aveiro took to the social media platform to endorse a post praising Ronaldo’s five Ballon d’Or successes while throwing shade over Messi’s recent award.
The post featured Ronaldo surrounded by a host of individual awards including his five Ballon d’Or trophies alongside the caption: “Earned, not given.”
Aveiro ‘liked’ the post before commenting with five clapping emojis.
And it's not the first time Aveiro has thrown herself in the long-standing debate over the two footballing greats, after labelling last year’s World Cup as ‘the worst ever’ before later praising Argentina for their victory.
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