RONALDO IS BACK ON TOP

CRISTIANO RONALDO is set to be named the world’s best player for the fourth time tonight. The Real Madrid forward is expected to beat his great rival Lionel Messi to the Ballon d’Or, although he will be absent from the glittering ceremony in Paris. The Portuguese will be in Japan on Club World Cup duty. Real beat city rivals Atletico Madrid in May to become European champions for a record-extending 11th time, with Ronaldo once more playing a crucial role. Two months later, Portugal triumphed at Euro 2016 in France to claim a major international trophy for the first time. Ronaldo has scored 48 goals in 52 games for club and country in 2016. The 31-year-old has previously won the Ballon d’Or three times, the last in 2014. Messi took the award last year. It comes after details of his finances were revealed on Friday. Due to an error by a reputable agency, we, in common with other newspapers and media, wrongly reported in early editions of Saturday’s paper that Ronaldo earned £191million in 2015. In fact, the figure related to his declared assets. It was a figure released by his agents on Friday in response to accusations of tax evasion in which he was alleged to have moved £53.4m to the British Virgin Islands at the end of 2014. His management company denied those claims, and to back that up, made public the front page of his tax return containing the £191m figure for his total assets. We are happy to make this point clear.