Cristiano Ronaldo Backed for 2015 Ballon D'Or Win by Spain PM Mariano Rajoy
Spain’s prime minister Mariano Rajoy weighed in on the 2015 Ballon d'Or race, telling reporters Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo would be his choice to win the prestigious award.
Ronaldo is once again expected to battle Barcelona forward Lionel Messi for the accolade, and Rajoy told Cadena SER (h/t Football Espana) the Portugal international should emerge victorious for the third year in a row, saying, “This year, I’d give the Ballon d’Or to Cristiano [Ronaldo]."
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The Los Blancos star enjoyed another fine season in 2014-15 from an individual standpoint, scoring a remarkable 48 goals in 35 La Liga appearances, per WhoScored.com. This season, he's added eight goals in 11 matches in the same competition.
But while Ronaldo found plenty of success in the scoring department, Messi was the clear victor when it came to trophies. The Argentinian guided Barcelona to the second treble-winning season in club history, winning La Liga, the UEFA Champions League and the Copa del Rey.
He also fell just short of adding the Copa America to his resume, losing the final against Chile. While he has missed a large portion of the 2015-16 campaign due to injury, the 28-year-old is still the favourite to win this year's Ballon d'Or, which would be his fifth of his career.
BBC Sport's Andy West thought Rajoy would have been better off not responding to the question at all:
Rajoy was also asked about the controversy surrounding Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, who has endured booing from the fans in just about every match Spain have played in the last few months, per Goal's Ben Hayward.
As explained by Hayward, Pique has made headlines by openly supporting the Catalan poll for independence from Spain, which naturally wouldn't sit well with Rajoy—the country's prime minister and one of the strongest opponent of Catalan independence, via the BBC.
But despite his political stance on the matter, Rajoy defended Pique, saying, “Pique defends the [Spain] jersey as best he can, so we should support him.”
It's always a little odd when politicians get involved in discussions about sport, particularly at a time when the Catalan region is making such a strong push towards independence. As a club, Barcelona represent the Catalans and their struggle, evidenced by their decision to incorporate the colours of the region's flag into their away kits.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that Rajoy named a Real Madrid player, but like West said, perhaps he would have been better off avoiding the subject altogether.
