Christiano Ronaldo believes Fifa favouritism for Barcelona and Lionel Messi is undermining his legacy at Real Madrid and fears he will not win the Ballon d'Or again while Sepp Blatter remains in charge of football's governing body.Both the Blancos and Ronaldo responded furiously on Tuesday at quotes made by Blatter on Friday in which the Fifa chief had expressed a preference for Messi and made fun of the Portuguese and, although the Swiss moved to apologise and play down the controversy, the player feels the remarks are indicative of institutional bias.
Asked about Messi and Ronaldo by students at an Oxford University debate on Friday, Blatter said: "One spends more at the hairdresser’s than the other, but I can’t say who is better. I like them both, but I prefer Messi."
Madrid contacted Blatter to express their "repulse" at the 77-year-old's stance, while coach Carlo Ancelotti also defended his player on Tuesday. "I know that our president has sent a letter to Fifa. This is a lack of respect towards a player who is very serious and very professional. I agree with the president," the Italian said."Those [Blatter] quotes explain the reasons why Cristiano doesn't have more Ballons d'Or," Portuguese great Paulo Futre said on Tuesday. "The trophy is a farce - if I had any doubts before then they are all gone now."
Ronaldo feels he deserved to win the Ballon d'Or last year after leading Madrid to La Liga in 2011-12 and believes the Fifa hierarchy have lobbied for Messi to claim the prestigious prize in recent years. The Portuguese is also concerned that quotes like Blatter's on Friday will serve to tarnish an image he has worked hard to improve over the last few seasons.
Blatter's comments were made on the eve of the Clasico clash between Barca and Madrid on Saturday, when Ronaldo was angered at a penalty call which went against him following a shove by Javier Mascherano in the area. The 28-year-old complained to the referee at the time and after Barca's second strike in the 2-1 win at Camp Nou, but his remarks fell on deaf ears. After the match, team-mate Sergio Ramos told reporters: "It's always the same here."
Ramos, like many of Madrid's players and former boss Jose Mourinho, believes Barcelona receive preferential treatment in Clasico clashes both in La Liga and in Europe - particularly at Camp Nou - and Ronaldo was alluding to something similar in his reply to Blatter.
However, the timing of Madrid's response to the Blatter quotes, has also allowed the capital club to move away from criticism of their poor performance in the Clasico, pressure on Ancelotti, Florentino Perez and the disappointing displays of summer signing Gareth Bale.
Barcelona, incidentally, also feel they should have been awarded a penalty in the Clasico on Saturday for a Pepe challenge on Cesc Fabregas.
Fifa have published Blatter's letter of apology to Madrid on their official website and refused to comment further on Wednesday.www.goal.com
No comments:
Post a Comment