Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the inaugural winner of the BOAT (Ballon d’Or of All Time) award, with fans voting his 2008 campaign at Manchester United as the greatest individual season in the history of football’s most prestigious individual honour.Introduced by France Football, the award was designed to spark debate over which Ballon d’Or-winning campaign deserved to be considered the greatest of all time. Ronaldo came out on top after a fan-driven voting process, beating long-time rival Lionel Messi to the honour.Fans favoured Ronaldo’s first Ballon d’Or-winning season in 2008 over Messi’s remarkable 91-goal calendar year in 2012, a record that still stands.Unlike the traditional Ballon d’Or, where an international panel of prominent journalists determines the winner, the BOAT award allowed fans to cast their votes digitally. The voting list featured some of football’s most celebrated names, including Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, Marco van Basten, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Kevin Keegan and Franz Beckenbauer. Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano and Brazilian great Ronaldo Nazario were also among the nominees.The voting process required participants to pay one euro, with organisers offering an additional incentive by entering voters into a prize draw for two tickets to the 2027 Ballon d’Or ceremony.The initiative attracted considerable interest, with thousands participating in the contest. More than 5,000 individuals voted multiple times in an effort to help their preferred player or campaign finish on top.Ronaldo and Messi dominated the final rankings, occupying the first 12 positions between them. The run was broken at 13th place by Brazil’s Ronaldo Nazario, whose 2002 Ballon d’Or-winning campaign was the next highest-ranked season outside the pair.Ronaldo’s victory adds another chapter to his long-running rivalry with Messi, with fans now having delivered their verdict on which of their standout Ballon d’Or-winning campaigns deserves the ultimate recognition.
