Juventus striker, Cristiano Ronaldo has beaten archrival, Lionel Messi, Roberto Lewandowski and eight others to claim the 2020 Golden Foot Award, becoming the 18th winner of the trophy introduced in 2003.
The 35-year-old Portuguese forward got the highest votes from fans to bag the prize reserved for outstanding players in Europe who are above 28.
“Fans and supporters from all over the world have chosen the best footballer of 2020, awarding the 18th Golden Foot Award to Cristiano Ronaldo,” the organisers said in a statement on its website, confirming the former Manchester United player as the winner of the 17-year-old award.
“The star of Juventus and the Portuguese national team received the highest number of votes among the 10 contenders selected this year.”
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Ronaldo – who has won the Ballon d’Or awards five times– was nominated alongside Messi, Lewandowski, Neymar, Mohamed Salah, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, Sergio Aguero, Giorgio Chiellini and Arturo Vidal.
He netted 37 goals and six assists in 46 matches during the 2019/2020 campaign, a fine form that saw him shortlisted for the 2020 FIFA Awards.
A ⚪️⚫️ @GoldenFootMC awards double!
The first edition of the Golden Foot Prestige is awarded to President Andrea Agnelli 🥇@Cristiano is the winner of the 2020 Golden Foot Award 🥇
👏👏👏👏 #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/vCmJ4P1yad
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) December 1, 2020
Equally, the president of the Turin side, Andrea Agnelli, scooped the first Golden Foot Prestige prize.
“He is thus one of the most successful presidents in the history of
international football,” the organisers added.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they explained that the development has, “prevented the running of the 2020 awards ceremony and its traditional gala evening which usually takes place in the heart of the Principality of Monaco. We will therefore send you a press release to announce the details of the awards for this edition.”