Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted that 'troubling lies' published in recent weeks about his tax affairs have taken some of the gloss off his fourth Ballon d'Or win this week, saying that the accusations 'hurt'.
Ronaldo's landslide victoryin the award was announced on Monday evening after a year which saw him win the Champions League with Real Madrid and Euro 2016 with his Portugal side, but has been hounded by allegations of tax evasion since a Football Leaks info dump was made public this month.
So happy and glad to win. Thanks Real Madrid and Portugal National team.amazing year. Simmmmmmm💪�💪�💪�💪� pic.twitter.com/IQCxOA5PLg
The 31-year-old toldFrance Footballafter winning the award:"Of course it has spoiled it a little bit. I would be lying if I said it hadn't. I'm not a hypocrite.I don't always say what I think, because sometimes it works against me. But of course I wasn't pleased.
"The whole process in itself, and it's not necessary to say where all that started, is hard not only for me, but also for the people alongside me: my family, my son, all those who work with me. My son goes to school. He's starting to understand things.
"All that irritates me, because I try to do things correctly, be transparent. You just have to type 'Cristiano Ronaldo' on the Internet, and you know everything about me.I don't have any reason to lie. Everything is written about me, about my girlfriends... what came out troubles me. Because it's not true. The lie is troubling.
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"But I'm a little bit used to people talking about me, for better or for worse. You have to live with it."
He continued:"When people talk about my private life, my friends, the place I went on holiday, whether or not I have a girlfriend, it's normal. But when it's something serious like this, that has to do with the law...I have my lawyers, the club, the people who work for me. It hurts me, because we always try to do things well."
For more from Chris when he's not writing on 90min, follow him on Twitter at @ThatChris1209
How does Ronaldo remain the best?
Our columnist @grahamruthven has his say 👇https://t.co/9kqi2tmqJ7 pic.twitter.com/Gb37SGZ59S