Dubai’s Globe Soccer Awards have officially crowned Cristiano Ronaldo as the Player of the Century, with the Juventus forward beating Lionel Messi to the honour.
Ronaldo has secured the award with 33% of the vote, whilst Barcelona great Messi had 20%.
Just six players ended up with a vote of 2% or more, in chronological order they were; Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah, Messi, Ronaldinho, Robert Lewandowski and Zinedine Zidane.
The Globe Soccer Awards are a creation that are now brought forward with backing by the Dubai Sports Council, and on this occasion are powered by car manufacturer Audi.
? ?? CRISTIANO RONALDO presented with the ?PLAYER OF THE CENTURY? 2001-2020 Globe Soccer Award@cristiano @dubaisc @juventusfc @selecaoportugal #CristianoRonaldo #CR7 #Bvlgari #globesoccer pic.twitter.com/deK2Qlzuey
— Globe Soccer Awards (@Globe_Soccer) December 27, 2020
This result will certainly split opinion, the attitude towards the award was already under question this year due to Arsenal legend Thierry Henry not earning a nomination at all.
Ronaldo has previously won Globe Soccer’s Player of the Year award six times, whilst Messi has won it just once.
Some may have expected a much closer difference in the voting between the all-time greats than 13%, especially as Messi has been honoured with the prestigious Ballon d’Or more times than Ronaldo.