France World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit has criticised Cristiano Ronaldo following the Portuguese star’s controversial claim that the Saudi Pro League is superior to France’s Ligue 1.
Ronaldo made the remarks while accepting an award at the Globe Soccer Awards, where he argued that Paris Saint-Germain are the only top team in the French top flight.
Softfootball understands the former Real Madrid forward claimed the overall standard of football in Saudi Arabia is now higher than that of Ligue 1. Ronaldo said:
The Saudi League is better than Ligue 1, of course, France only has Paris Saint-Germain. The rest are finished.
Petit, a member of France’s 1998 FIFA World Cup-winning squad, dismissed Ronaldo’s comments and suggested they were influenced by Lionel Messi’s previous spell in France with Paris Saint-Germain.
I’m not surprised. Since 2018 when Cristiano left Real Madrid he has had more interviews than collective trophies,
Petit said.
The former Arsenal midfielder also questioned Ronaldo’s recent influence in football and claimed the five-time Ballon d’Or winner was struggling to accept no longer being the sport’s biggest attraction.
He has had very little impact for club and country. He is an ambassador of the Globe award and I think he can’t deal with the fact that he is not the headliner of the biggest football awards (Ballon d’Or) anymore.
Petit concluded by linking Ronaldo’s criticism of Ligue 1 to his long-standing rivalry with Messi, saying:
His comments about Ligue 1 are baseless and are related to Messi, and we all know that.
