Cristiano Ronaldo's sister blames mafia for football star missing out on Ballon d'Or

Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after he scored against AC Milan. Photo / AP

A sister of Juventus and Portugal football star Cristiano Ronaldo has made the wild claim that the mafia was behind his snub at yesterday's Ballon d'Or awards.

Ronaldo's sister Elma Aveiro made the claims on Instagram after her brother finished second in the voting for the world's best player award. Luka Modric ended the long reign of Lionel Messi and Ronaldo by winning the award for the first time.

Aveiro said the result proved that the world was 'rotten'.

"Unfortunately this is the world we live in, rotten, with mafia and f******g money. The power of God is a lot greater than all this rottenness. God takes his time but he doesn't fail," she posted on Instagram.

The social media message was posted next to a picture of Ronaldo with one of his five awards from previous years.

Ronaldo's other sister Katia Aveiro posted: "Best player in the world… for those who understand football of course."

Modric won the Champions League with Real Madrid and then guided Croatia to the World Cup final in July. The midfielder was voted player of the tournament.

Ronaldo was second in the polling followed by France forward Antoine Griezmann. France's teen star, Kylian Mbappe, was fourth. Brazil star Neymar was third last year but only 12th this time. Messi was fifth in the voting, having been runner-up to Ronaldo the past two years and in the top three every year since 2007. Modric had never previously been in the top three.

Ronaldo missed out on a record sixth award, which would have moved him one ahead of Messi. The last player to win it before those two started dominating world soccer awards was Brazil midfielder Kaka with AC Milan in 2007.

"2018 is a dream year for me," the 33-year-old Modric said. "Throughout my career I realized hard work, persistence and belief in yourself in difficult moments are the foundations of success."

Modric's father was shown on the big screen wiping away tears during the ceremony at the imperious Grand Palais in Paris.

Ronaldo also won the Champions League last season with Modric, before leaving to join Juventus. He scored a hat trick against Spain at the World Cup but he failed to make an impression when Portugal lost to Uruguay in the round of 16.

- With AP