Lisbon, Nov 3 (IANS): Portuguese great Cristiano Ronaldo may have won almost everything there is to win in football, but his mother feels that her son would have won more individual honours had it not been for the "mafia" working against him.

Ronaldo and his rival Lionel Messi have both won the prestigious Ballon d'Or a whopping five times each in a decade-long period of dominance, and Dolores Aveiro feels that he should have won the title more number of times.

"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 won more individual trophies. If you see everything that has happened, you will realise that it is the mafia," she said.

Ronaldo hails from the island of Madeira in Portugal and Aveiro feels that his origin plays a part. "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," she said.

The 34-year-old Juventus star is among the contenders to win the award this season and Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk and Messi are seen as worthy contenders to him.

"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 said.