Cristiano Ronaldo The Highest Sport Person Earner In 2016

Cristiano Ronaldo has been given another reason to celebrate especially topping the table for the highest earning athletes for the year 2016 ahead of rival from Barcelona Lionel Messi. After winning the Champions League and Euro 2016 on the field, Ronaldo's exploits saw him collect the Ballon d'Or and the Best FIFA Men's Player. And it has emerged that the Portuguese superstar was the world's highest-earning athlete in 2016. 

According to Forbes magazine, Ronaldo top the list earning £70.6million last year for the first time after his earning increased by £6.6m from 2015. The Real Madrid man, Ronaldo is only the second athlete from a team sport to top the rankings, since it began in 1990, after basketball great Michael Jordan.

The 31-year-old's perennial rival Messi sits second having made £65m with future NBA Hall of Fame star LeBron James (£61.9m) completing the top three.

Tennis legend Roger Federer (£54.4m) and Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant (£45.1m)) complete the top five.

Lewis Hamilton (£36.8m) is one of only two Brit in the top 20 - sitting in 11th. Rory McIlroy (£34m) is the other - coming in at 17th.

Ronaldo and Messi are the only two footballers to place in Forbes' top 20 list.

Messi's Barcelona team-mate Neymar is joint-21st with Rafael Nadal (£30.1m). Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£30m) follows them in 23rd place while Ronaldo's fellow Real forward Gareth Bale (£28.8m) is 25th.

TOP 20 FORBES' HIGHEST-EARNING ATHLETES FOR 2016 

1) Cristiano Ronaldo (Football) - £70.6million 

2) Lionel Messi (Football) - £65m

3) Lebron James (Basketball) - £61.9m

4) Roger Federer (Tennis) - £54.4m

5) Kevin Durant (Basketball) - £45.1m

6) Novak Djokovic (Tennis) - £44.6m

7) Cam Newton (American Football) - £42.5m

8) Phil Mickelson (Golf) - £42.3m

9) Jordan Spieth (Golf) - £42.2m

10) Kobe Bryant (Basketball) - £39.9m

11) Lewis Hamilton (F1) - £36.8m

12) Tiger Woods (Golf) - £36.2m

13) Eli Manning (American Football) - £36m

14) Joe Flacco (American Football) - £35.6m

15) Tom Brady (American Football) - £35.7m

16) Floyd Mayweather (Boxing) - £35.2m

17) Rory McIlroy (Golf) - £34m

18) Russell Wilson (American Football) - £33.4m

19) Sebastian Vettel (F1) - £32.8m

20) Philip Rivers (American Football) - £30.4m