Cristiano Ronaldo’s sister takes swipe at long-time rival Lionel Messi after the Argentine won his 8th Ballon d’Or

Cristiano Ronaldo’s sister appeared to take a swipe at Lionel Messi after his Ballon d’Or win this week.

The Argentine took home a record eighth trophy at Monday night’s ceremony in Paris after leading his national team as they won the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

The triumph saw Messi go three clear of his old rival, who won the last of his five Ballon d’Or awards

While many praised the Argentine for his feat, others claimed Messi didn’t deserve to win the award.

Katia Aveiro, 46, appeared to agree with a post that claimed that Ronaldo earned his awards, in an apparent dig to Lionel Messi following his recent achievement.

The post on X, formerly Twitter, showed the 38-year-old surrounded by his raft of personal honours including three UEFA Men’s Player of the Year awards, four European Golden Shoes, and five Ballon d’Ors.

The image was accompanied by the caption: ‘Earned, not given.’

Aveiro liked the post and commented with five clapping emojis.

It’s not the first time the Portuguese pop singer has waded into modern football’s eternal debate. Last year, she labelled the World Cup as ‘the worst ever’ in a dramatic post on social media.

She wrote: ‘The worst World Cup of all time,’ before eventually praising the victorious South America side by adding: ‘That thankfully gave us a great final. What a match. Congratulations to Argentina.’

Aveiro had earlier urged Ronaldo him to leave the World Cup and come home to a place where he has ‘all the gratitude and not ingratitude’ following his demotion to Portugal’s bench during the tournament.