Cristiano Ronaldo has garnered more votes than Franck Ribéry and Leo Messi and will therefore carry off the precious award, thus bringing an end to the dominance of the Argentine, who has won all of the last three.
The 69 goals Ronaldo scored during 2013, and his spectacular ending to the year have tipped the balance of the jury, which consists of team selectors, club captains and journalists the world over, who this time round have almost unanimously chosen Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player of the year.
Ronaldo has known he is the winner since last week, and will therefore travel to Zurich, where he will find his close family waiting for him, as well as his girlfriend, model Irina Shayak, and his agent Jorge Mendes. Also going will be Florentino Pérez, Emilio Butragueño, Zinedine Zidane and Sergio Ramos, who will be named best central defender of the year, jointly with Thiago Silva.
Neither Leo Messi's reputation, nor Franck Ribéry's triple success, being a member of the team which won the German league and cup as well as the Champions League, have on this occasion been enough to defeat Cristiano Ronaldo, determined to win his second Ballon d'Or since signing for Real Madrid.