Cristiano Ronaldo is set to miss FIFA’s The Best Awards Gala in London tonight, according to Marca.
The Portuguese forward, who scored in Juventus’ 2-0 win over Frosinone at the weekend, will not travel to the English capital because of the three day turn around between Sunday’s game and his next Serie A match against Bologna on Wednesday.
It is expected Luka Modric will win the award tonight, the first time any player besides Ronaldo or Lionel Messi has held the accolade in over ten years.
Since 2008, it has been Messi first and Ronaldo second five times, and Ronaldo first, Messi second five times.
Ronaldo, of course, will have his backers in a voting system that is equally weighted between national team managers, national captains, representatives from the media and an online public vote.
The 33-year-old, who joined Juventus this summer in a £99million deal, helped Real Madrid win a third straight Champions League title last season, his fifth in total, with 15 goals in the tournament. But Portugal did not progress beyond the last 16 in Russia, although Ronaldo did score a memorable hat-trick against Spain.
Modric was also a key member of that Madrid side but he also drove Croatia to their first appearance in a World Cup final, where they lost 4-2 to France but not before beating the likes of Argentina, Russia and of course England.