Cristiano Ronaldo has said that recent allegations of tax evasion “spoiled” his Ballon D’Or win.
The Real Madrid forward, was named the winner of the award for this year on Monday night, ahead of rival Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann.
However, last week, it was not all good news for the 31-year-old, who was at the centre of a tax evasion scandal, after Football Leaks got hold of some documents. They claimed Ronaldo had avoided playing tax on tens of millions of euros, by using an Irish holding company.
The player’s reps have already released a statement, denying any wrongdoing and Ronaldo admits it has taken some shine off his fourth Ballon D’Or.
“Of course it has spoiled it a little bit. I would be lying if I said it hadn’t. I’m not a hypocrite,” he told France Football.
“I don’t always say what I think, because sometimes it works against me. But of course I wasn’t pleased. The whole process in itself, and it’s not necessary to say where all that started, is hard not only for me, but also for the people alongside me: my family, my son, all those who work with me. My son goes to school. He’s starting to understand things.
“All that irritates me, because I try to do things correctly, be transparent. You just have to type ‘Cristiano Ronaldo’ on the Internet, and you know everything about me.
“I don’t have any reason to lie. Everything is written about me, about my girlfriends… what came out troubles me. Because it’s not true. The lie is troubling.
“But I’m a little bit used to people talking about me, for better or for worse. You have to live with it.”
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