Real Madrid's Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo kisses his trophy after winning the FIFA Men's Player of the Year 2016 award during the FIFA Awards 2016 gala at the Swiss TV studio in Zurich, Switzerland, Jan 9, 2017. [Photo/IC]

ZURICH - Cristiano Ronaldo won FIFA's player of the year award for the fourth time on Monday, beating his old rival Lionel Messi who was pulled out of the ceremony only a few hours earlier by his club Barcelona.

Italian Claudio Ranieri won the coach of the year award for leading rank outsiders Leicester City to the English Premier League title.

Ronaldo was rewarded for his performance in 2016 when he won the Champions League with his club Real Madrid and then Euro 2016 with Portugal. Five-times winner and four-times runner-up Messi was second and Frenchman Antoine Griezmann third.

Barcelona said that Wednesday's game against Athletic Bilbao would take priority over the ceremony and that none of their invited players would travel, which disappointed Ronaldo.