Little-known hidden corners of the Golden Ball

Messi has won the Golden Ball 8 times.

While Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembele are the strongest candidates for the prestigious title, behind the halo of the award ceremony there are controversial stories about the voting process - where there were journalists who were eliminated for lack of objectivity.

According to the rules, the Golden Ball organized by France Football magazine will be decided by an international panel of specialized sports journalists, each country in the top 100 FIFA men's rankings and the top 50 FIFA women's rankings has a representative. Each journalist selects 10 players from a shortlist of 30 names, with a score scale from 15 to 1. Voting criteria are based on individual performance, influence and fair-play spirit.

But in 2023, Enrique Wolff - former Real Madrid and River Plate defender and Argentina's voting representative - caused controversy when he included four of his countrymen in the top five: Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez, Julian Alvarez and Emiliano Martinez. Although Messi eventually won his eighth Ballon d'Or, Wolff's decision led the organizers to say he had "lost his objectivity".

Vincent Garcia, editor-in-chief of France Football , said frankly: “People can vote according to their preferences and emotions. But the important thing is reliability. Not everyone can pass this test. Wolff, for example, chose all four Argentinian players in the top 5, and in our opinion, that was not objective. Therefore, Wolff can no longer continue to participate in the vote.”

QBV also contains many controversies.

The Ballon d’Or has been dogged by scandals over its voting process. Most notably in 2018 – the year Luka Modric won the award – a “ghost journalist” from Comoros named Abdou Bonia was recorded as voting. He was said to work for albaladcomores.com , but the newspaper had been shut down for six years and no one named Bonia existed.

It was only after the awards ceremony that the truth was revealed. The fake vote had chosen Kylian Mbappe as number 1, followed by Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo, Eden Hazard and Mohamed Salah. Fortunately, the final result was not affected as Modric still won with 277 points.

The Golden Ball has always been considered the standard of recognition for the world's best individuals. However, side stories such as "unbiased journalists" or "fake journalists" have somewhat tarnished this award in the eyes of fans.

However, the prestige of the Ballon d'Or still stands firm thanks to its historical weight and the list of legends who have won it. As the name of the new owner is about to be announced, people hope that this year's game - between Yamal, Dembele and the remaining candidates - will truly reflect the spirit: honoring the excellence, fairness and purity of football.

Source: https://znews.vn/goc-khuat-it-biet-cua-qua-bong-vang-post1587422.html