- Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to endorse an Instagram post saying Lionel Messi winning the Ballon d'Or was "theft."
- The post detailed Ronaldo's achievements in 2021. He liked it and commented "facts," underneath.
- The Instagram page the post was shared on appears to have been deleted as of late Wednesday morning.
Cristiano Ronaldo seemed to endorse an Instagram post that said he had been robbed of this year's Ballon d'Or by Lionel Messi in the star's latest social media controversy over the prestigious soccer trophy.
The Manchester United forward finished sixth in the voting and outside of the top three for the first time in over a decade, while Messi claimed the prize for a record seventh time at Monday night's award ceremony in Paris.
After the gala, which Ronaldo did not attend, the 36-year-old appeared to make his feelings known on his rival's victory by liking a post on Instagram which detailed why he should have instead won, according to a number of media outlets, including the Daily Mail.
The post, shared by a fan account with the username @cr7.o_lendario and around 330,000 followers, detailed all of Ronaldo's achievements in 2021, and why, the account believed, he should have won the Ballon d'Or. The name of the page roughly translates from Portuguese to English as "CR7 The Legendary."
The post liked by Ronaldo included the words: "Theft. Dirt. Shame. Simply regrettable," with regards to Messi's win, screenshots shared by the Daily Mail showed.
On top of liking the post, Ronaldo's official account commented on it, writing: "Facts." It is unclear if Ronaldo himself, or a social media manager, posted the comment.
—GOAL (@goal) December 1, 2021
However, as of late Wednesday morning, the page on which Ronaldo commented appeared to have been deleted.
A Google search for the account still showed the page as available, but following the link led to an error page displaying the message "Sorry, this page isn't available."
The page did not show up in searches within the Instagram app.
Messi winning wasn't Ronaldo's only gripe with the Ballon d'Or this year.
The five-time winner also publicly hit back at a key organizer of the award, who claimed that the Portuguese had confided in him that his main aim is to win the trophy more times than Messi.
"Ronaldo has only one ambition, and that is to retire with more Ballons d'Or than Messi, and I know that because he has told me," Pascal Ferre, the editor in chief of France Football — the publication behind the Ballon d'Or — said in an interview with The New York Times.
Responding to Ferre's comments, Ronaldo wrote on Instagram: "Pascal Ferre lied, he used my name to promote himself and to promote the publication he works for.
"It is unacceptable that the person responsible for awarding such a prestigious prize could lie in this way, in absolute disrespect for someone who has always respected France Football and the Ballon d'Or.
"The biggest ambition of my career is to win national and international titles for the clubs I represent and for the national team in my country.
"The biggest ambition of my career is to be a good example for all those who are or want to be professional footballers. The biggest ambition of my career is to leave my name written in golden letters in the history of world football."
