Lionel Messi’s victory in this year’s Ballon d’Or award led the Argentine to reach seven trophies and was once again exalted throughout the planet. However, unlike other opportunities, the star’s election was contested by many personalities in the football world, from players to coaches. Many of them argued that Robert Lewandowski deserved the trophy more for his achievements in 2020/21. And the editor of “France Football” magazine, responsible for the award, reacted.
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In an interview with the Swiss website “Watson”, Pascal Ferré cited the “democratic system” of election that the magazine puts in place to elect the victorious: a jury of around 180 journalists assigns scores according to the order of preference – whoever adds the most points, keep the trophy. And Pascal revealed that he voted in Polish.
– The Golden Ball is based on a democratic system. There are 170 members on the jury, and they decided to vote for Messi. I didn’t put Messi first, I chose Lewandowski. But I think Messi also deserves the Golden Ball – he said.
Lewandowski took the Gerd Muller trophy at the Ballon d’Or ceremony — Photo: Getty Images
Lewandowski’s loss at the traditional award was even more criticized as the Bayern Munich forward was denied a possible trophy last year when the award was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He was seen as the favorite, and ended up taking The Best, a trophy given by FIFA to the player named best player in the world for the season.
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Pascal Ferré was then asked whether “France Football” would offer Lewandowski a trophy for last year’s edition – a suggestion by Messi himself in his winning speech. And the editor didn’t rule out the chance.
– What Messi said was very nice and intelligent. I don’t think we have to make decisions too fast. We can think about it, and we should. We can’t be sure that Lewandowski would win last year, as there was no vote, but, being honest, he had a good chance of winning,” Ferré pointed out.
