Jury words
Each month in FF, a Ballon d’Or juror tells “his” story with the trophy. Zdravko Reic opens the ball with an interview with Andreï Chevtchenko which had ignited the Italian press, in 2004.
“Paroles de juré”, an article from the brand new issue of France Football, sold on newsstands every second Saturday of the month with L’Equipe and available in digital version on the L’Equipe website.
“It was an autumn day in 2004. I was in Milanello, the AC Milan training center, with my manager, Branko Tuden, to present Andrei Shevchenko with the player of the year award given by our newspaper, Sportske Novosti, the Croatian sports daily. This award was only three years old and we really wanted to highlight it by going to the Rossonero stronghold. Everything went admirably well, thanks in particular to the help of Predrag Naletilic, also present, who had been the agent of the “Milanisti” Boban and Savivecic, and who knew the leaders of the club very well. I was able to interview “Cheva” at length and we even had lunch with him and Ariedo Braida, the general manager of Milan, at the restaurant in Milanello.
“La Gazzetta took me for the messenger of the BO”
We inevitably talked about the Ballon d’Or, a few weeks before the results. I have underlined to be the juror since the entry of Croatia in the college of France Football ten years earlier. That, both the Ukrainian striker and the leaders present understood perfectly, especially since the latter had already had the opportunity in the past to attend the presentation of the prestigious trophy. There could therefore be no ambiguity. And yet … On the day of our meeting with ” Cheva ”, Milanello was closed to the press. Suddenly, the Italian journalists had telephoned their contacts on the spot to collect some “fresh” information. Someone must have mentioned our visit, adding that there was notably a Ballon d’Or juror in the walls.
Was there any confusion? Surely. Did some think it was a FF ploy to discreetly meet the future winner? I don’t know, but the fact remains that, the next day, the Gazzetta dello Sport and other Italian dailies came out claiming that Chevtchenko had seen someone from FF who had announced his victory at the Ballon d’Or! They took me for the BO messenger. This had been denied because it was false. Well, not exactly. Because, what is funny, and I learned it later, is that at the same time a journalist from France Football went to ” Cheva ”, away from prying eyes, for him announce the good news and savor with him this moment when the count of the votes assured him not to be joined again. This unforgettable visit served, in spite of me, as a lure for the Ballon d’Or before the identity of the winner was officially revealed a few weeks later. “
Its file
Last name : Reic
First name: Hello
Age : 80 years old
Pays : Croatia
Average : the daily Sportske Novosti
Favorite club: Hajduk Split
Number of participations in the BO jury: 26
His “score” (number of times he gave the final winner): 11/26.
