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What's the story?
Amid speculation over the winner of the prestigious Ballon d'Or, reports have now surfaced that nominee and five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo will not attend the award gala in Paris.
In case you didn't know...
The much-awaited award ceremony honouring the best in football is inching closer and rumours surrounding this year's winner have been rife.
Many publications have reported that five-time winners Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will not take home a record sixth award this time around, with Croatia and Real Madrid midfielder being the favourite to win the prize.
A few days ago, the Spanish radio reported that Modric will indeed win the award with Ronaldo finishing at second place and Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezman at third.
Modric has had a phenomenal year, having led his home country to their first FIFA World Cup final and having played a crucial role in Real Madrid's third consecutive UEFA Champions League title last season.
The Croatian
midfielder has already won the UEFA Best Player of the Year award as well as The Best FIFA Men's Player Award earlier this year and looks set to complete his treble with the Ballon d'Or.
The heart of the matter
According to AS, a Sky Italia report has claimed that Portuguese ace Ronaldo will not be in attendance at the Ballon d'Or gala in Paris.
The Juventus star was also notably absent from the Best FIFA Football Awards 2018 Gala held in London in September.
In fact, the former Real Madrid frontman also missed the UEFA Best Player awards which were held back in August, in which his ex-Los Blancos team-mate Luka Modric won the Best European Footballer of the Year 2018 award.
What's next?
While similar reports have proven to be true so far this year, it's best to take such rumours with a pinch of salt at the moment.
The reports will only be confirmed when the 2018 Ballon d'Or gala will take place at the Grand Palais on Monday.
