Madrid: FIFA player of the year candidate Cristiano Ronaldo and coach Jose Mourinho will skip Monday's awards gala because of team commitments, Real Madrid said on Friday.
The 2011 Fifa Ballon d'Or gala takes place in Switzerland, but Madrid have a Copa del Rey game away to Malaga the next day and the duo do not want to disrupt their preparations for the match.
Madrid lead Malaga 3-2 from the first leg of their Copa del Rey last-16 clash.
Neither Portuguese nominee nor players Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos will be in Zurich because the team is traveling to Malaga for the return leg on Tuesday. Former Madrid players Zinedine Zidane and Emilio Butragueno will represent the Spanish club.
Ronaldo, who won the award in 2008, is up against Barcelona pair Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez for the individual prize after scoring 53 goals last season. Mourinho is vying for a second straight coach of the year award with Barcelona counterpart Pep Guardiola and Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.
Mourinho, a former Chelsea and Inter Milan coach, does not expect to win the prize, anyway.
"(Guardiola) deserves it," Mourinho said on Friday. "I just hope they don't take too long to get it to Pep because I won it (...) and I'm still waiting to receive it."
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