Juventus ace Cristiano Ronaldo skipped last week's UEFA awards gala after hearing of Florentino Perez's influence, it has been claimed.

Gazzetta dello Sport says Ronaldo learned of the Real Madrid president lobbying UEFA to award Luka Modric 'The Best' gong ahead of him.

However, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has denied the claims.

Modric received the most votes from the 80 coaches who participated in the Champions League and the Europa League last season and 55 journalists belonging to the European Sports Media (ESM) group.

"I will only say that there were 55 journalists and 80 coaches who voted and they chose the winner and so the outcome must be respected," said Ceferin.