...Portuguese star among 30 Ballon d’Or nominees

: Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been named among 30 nominees for the men’s Ballon d’Or trophy awarded by France Football magazine to the best player in the world.

The Portugal captain has won the award for the past two years and five times in all, a record he shares with Argentina’s Lionel Messi who is also on the list announced on Monday.

Ronaldo’s nomination comes after the 33-year-old last week denied rape allegations levelled against him by a woman who sued him in court in the United States. Sportswear maker Nike Inc and video game maker Electronic Arts Inc, who both have worked with the five-times Champions League winner, said last Thursday they were concerned about the allegations.

European champions Real Madrid dominate the nominees with eight players, including Croatia midfielder Luka Modric and Sergio Aguero (Man City, Arg) Alisson (Liverpool, Bra)

Gareth Bale (Real Madrid, Wales) Karim Benzema (Real, Fra) Edinson Cavani (PSG, Uruguay) Thibaut Courtois (Real, Bel) Cristiano Ronaldo (Juve, Por) Kevin De Bruyne (Man City, Bel) Roberto Firmino (Liverpool, Bra) Diego Godin (Atletico, Uruguay) Antoine Griezmann (Atletico, Fra) Eden Hazard (Chelsea, Bel)

Isco (Real, Spa)

Harry Kane (Spurs, Eng)

N’Golo Kante (Chelsea, Fra)

Wales forward Gareth Bale.

Modric won the Golden Ball as the best player at this year’s World Cup in Russia, where Croatia finished runners-up, and last month claimed FIFA’s The Best men’s player award.

Bale scored twice in the Champions Hugo Lloris (Spurs, Fra)

Mario Mandzukic (Juve, Croatia) Sadio Mane (Liverpool, Senegal) Marcelo (Real, Bra)

Kylian Mbappe (PSG, Fra)

Lionel Messi (Barca, Arg)

Luka Modric (Real, Croatia) Neymar (PSG, Bra)

Jan Oblak (Atletico, Slovenia) Paul Pogba (Man Utd, Fra)

Ivan Rakitic (Barca, Croatia) Sergio Ramos (Real, Spain)

Md Salah (Liverpool, Egypt)

Luis Suarez (Barca, Uruguay) Raphael Varane (Real, Fra)

League final win over Liverpool. France World Cup winners Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Raphael Varane, one of the Real Madrid contingent, and captain Hugo Lloris have also been nominated.

PARIS