Cristiano Ronaldo's team accused of 'paying troll accounts' on social media

Cristiano Ronaldo's team have been accused of "paying troll accounts" on social media.

Ronaldo is one of the most followed athletes in the world, with a whopping 618 million followers on Instagram, as well as 168 million over on Facebook.

There are also a plethora of Ronaldo fan accounts, who all share the latest content regarding the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.

But a recent post on the Meta platform involved Ronaldo has caused controversy.

'GOATnaldo Junction', which has 87,000 likes and 108,000 followers, produced a post with the caption, "The Ballon d'Or hits different when it's earned".

The post follows on from Ronaldo hitting out at the credibility of individual awards after Lionel Messi's Best FIFA Men's player win.

Image: Getty

“I think that, in a way, these awards are losing credibility. We have to analyse the entire season. It's not to say that Messi didn't deserve it, or Haaland or even Mbappe. I simply no longer believe in these awards.

"And it's not because I won at Globe Soccer. But there are facts, there are numbers. And the numbers don't deceive. They can't take this trophy away from me because it's a reality. So it makes me even happier because the numbers are facts."

However, the aforementioned post from the Ronaldo fan page was surprisingly part of a 'Paid partnership' with the 38-year-old.

Clicking onto the about partnership section, a message said that 'Cristiano Ronaldo compensated GOATnaldo Junction to share this post. Branded content lets creator partners with brands to promote with brands to promote products or services."

Image: Getty

The content in question has been since been deleted. Ronaldo is not believed to be personally running his account and instead has a team managing his socials.

The admin of the GOATnaldo Junction page later issued a statement claiming that "neither Ronaldo nor Messi" had paid for the content and that they had merely "made the post for Ronaldo" - denying it was a paid partnership.

SPORTbible have contacted Ronaldo's representatives for comment.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star is currently in China with Al Nassr for a tour where they will play Shanghai Shenhua and Zhejiang Professional.

Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Saudi Pro League, Saudi Arabia

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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