Ronaldo tops Forbes highest-paid athlete list

Real Madrid and Portugal football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has topped a Forbes list of the highest paid athletes for 2016.

He earned $88 million, split between $56 million in salary and $32m in endorsements between June 2015 and June 2016. Lionel Messi ($81.4m), LeBron James ($77.2m), Roger Federer ($67.8m) and Kevin Durant ($56.2m) completed the top five.

The Portuguese player has a sportswear sponsorship deal with Nike, which has launched a clothing range called CR7 (after his initials and shirt number) and has signed partnerships with watchmaker Tag Heuer and nutrition supplements group Herbalife.

The Portuguese player has a sportswear sponsorship deal with Nike, which has launched a clothing range called CR7

You have to scroll down to no.40 on the list before a female athlete is reached, with tennis star Serena Williams replacing Maria Sharapova as the best-paid woman on the list. In fact, these two were the only women to feature on the top 100 at all.

Last year's list was topped by boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao ahead of their much-anticipated but ultimately disappointing fight, but this year they slip to 16 and 63 respectively.

This year's list marks the first time since 2001 that it has neither Mayweather or golfer Tiger Woods at the top of the tree.

Tennis star Roger Federer earned more in endorsements than any other athlete, picking up a cool $60m from his business ventures, including his own clothig brand.

The list is dominated by those from US sports, with 26 coming from baseball, 21 from NFL and 18 from basketball. Among these was Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee, who made $29.2 million without throwing a ball after the MLB side exercised an option to buy out his contract after an elbow injury ended his career.