Bayern Munich attacker Franck Ribery has insisted that it should have been him and not Cristiano Ronaldo who won the recent FIFA Ballon d'Or award.
The French international won a treble of trophies with Bayern last year, but that wasn't enough to convince his peers, who voted for both Ronaldo and Lionel Messi ahead of him.
"I won everything I could win with Bayern and individually. Ronaldo, on the other hand, did not win anything. I am not sad that I missed out, but it does hurt a bit. I deserved to win the Ballon d'Or," the winger told TZ.
"It was clear that Ronaldo would win it. The voting deadline was extended by two weeks. This had never happened before. It wasn't about football. It was a political decision."
It was the second time that Ronaldo had won the award following his success in 2008.
