The Juventus superstar, alongside Lionel Messi, have ruled the footballing world for well over a decade, winning ten Ballon D’ors between them.
Ronaldo, who recently surpassed 700 career goals, has won the UEFA Champions League five times –once with Manchester United and four times with Real Madrid – and is looking to become only the second player after Clarence Seedorf to win the competition with three different clubs.
The 34-year-old also led Portugal to European Championships glory in 2016 and the inaugural UEFA Nations League this summer.
Ronaldo’s mother is of the opinion that there is a ‘football mafia’ preventing his son from becoming even more successful as a result of where he hails from.
"There is a mafia. That's the right word to define it. Yes, there is a mafia in football," she told the Portuguese press.
"If there wasn’t a football mafia, my son would have more [individual] international trophies. If you see everything that happened, you will realise that it is the mafia.
"If he was Spanish or English they would not do what they did to him. But since he's Portuguese and from Madeira... well, this happens."
Ronaldo was beaten to football’s most prestigious individual honour last year by Luka Modric and having been named on this year’s 30-man shortlist, the likes of Messi, Sadio Mane and Virgil Van Dijk will provide stiff competition.
"I don't know if he will get it, but I am confident. I think he deserves it if we analyse what he did during the season," she added.
