The balon d’or is arguably the most prestigious award out there to honor footballers annual
brilliance.
It’s hard to find somebody that doesn’t enjoy or at least interact with the hype,
the debates and everything that accompanies this prize at the end of every year.
And when your favorite player wins, ohhh boy, it almost feels like you’ve hit the jackpot.
You would relate the most if you’re a fan of certain two players which I don’t really
remember their names but I’m pretty sure they have horns coming out of their heads.
Since it’s that time of the year and the debates noise is louder than ever, we decided
to have this award under our spotlight.
We’re here to answer a question that all football fans must have asked themselves before,
WHAT ON EARTH is the criteria that decides the winner of the balon d’or?
This question led us to start an investigation that will only end with providing you guys
an answer, probably.
First of all, you need to know that there are two main associations that hand out 'the
best player of the year' title.
First we have FIFA'S 'The Best' and on the other hand France Football's 'Balon d'or'.
Actually, from the year 2010 up to 2015 they were both in agreement to merge their prizes
to create the 'FIFA Balon d'Or'.
So since both parties split up, we will have to explain their different approaches for
deciding the winner.
France football gathers a jury of sports journalists from around the globe to cast their votes,
selecting the 5 best players in descending order.
They claim that the vote is based on three main points : Individual and team performances
- Fair play and talent - and listen to this last one "Overall evaluation of the player's
career".
If that's the case why was Luka Modric given the award in 2018?!
However, on the other hand FIFA's The Best winner is also decided by a voting mechanism
but the difference is in the individuals who is involved in the vote.
50 per cent of the vote is split equally between captains and head coaches from national teams
all around the globe.
While the remaining 50 per cent is also equally distributed between fans and submissions from
a selected group of media representatives.
Now that you understand the whole process it's time to get into the real talk.
Why do we think that this award is rigged?
Simply because of the inconsistencies that we have witnessed from the people handing
out this award along the years.
For instance, back in 2010 Lionel Messi was the winner despite the tough competition he
had from the world cup winners and his teammates Iniesta and Xavi who won the second and third
place at the time.
Leo had a great individual year being the top scorer of La Liga and the champions league
however he had one collective trophy which was La Liga.
What if we told you that there was a certain player that won 5 major club tournaments including
the champions league and his national team played the final of the world cup while having
a phenomenal individual performance throughout the year and his name wasn't even included
in the top 3 shortlist?
You probably already knew that we're talking about Wesley Sneijder.
If you compare Sneijder's year with that of Luka Modric back in 2018, you'll find that
they had similar circumstances with Sneijder coming out much more superior than him.
Then why did Luka win and on the other hand Sneijder was completely snubbed?
Still not convinced?
What about 2006 then?
When Ronaldinho was literally having one of the best forms a football player had in football
history, the man was UNREAL.
In addition to his magical individual performances, he led Barcelona to win both the champions
league and La Liga that year.
However, Fabio Cannavaro won the award for his performance with his national team that
was crowned champions of the world in 2006.
If that's the case then why didn't Iniesta win in 2010?
Or even Manuel Neuer in 2014?
Is the award based on individual stats? or is it based on the team titles?
These inconsistencies led to a lot of head scratching without getting any clear answers
from anyone in the football world.
That's why we've seen football fans come up with many conspiracy theories over the past
years and we actually can't blame them for that.
Would you blame any football fan for doubting the integrity of FIFA?
Of course you can't with all the dirty work and corruption they have been involved with.
Don't you think Frank Ribery was denied a balon d'or in 2013?
Cristiano had a phenomenal individual year yes, but he didn't win any major trophies
with his club.
While Ribery won almost everything there is to win with Bayern that year.
So we are back to the never ending debate, is it based on collective achievements or
individual ones?
How do these guys decide?
And most importantly does the player's name play a role in this?
Because back in 2002 Brazilian Ronaldo was named player of the year despite being absent
for long periods due to injuries.
Don't get the wrong idea though, we're aware of how good this guy was and also aware of
his amazing 2002 world cup campaign.
However his Brazilian teammate Roberto Carlos had a better year than him by winning three
trophies with Los Blancos including the uefa champions league.
Coming up is arguably the weirdest incident in the balon d'or history, how did Michael
Owen manage to win the 2001 player of the year ahead of Real Madrid's Raul Gonzalez?!!
The Spaniard was by far the best player in the world at the time, carrying Real Madrid's
attack to glory with his outstanding performances.
And also he had the edge over Owen because he managed to win the league with his team
something Michael Owen failed to do with Liverpool back then.
So are we 100 per cent certain that this award is rigged?
Surprisingly no.
Although we are definitely certain that we don't know everything that is happening behind
the closed curtains, we are aware of how tough a process like this can be.
We truly believe that every player we mentioned in this video is a great player that actually
deserves to be awarded this title.
In fact that's our answer and also our advice to you, it's completely normal to have your
own best player, it's completely normal to have your own preferences, it's completely
normal to agree and disagree.
Especially, when it's a year with no clear winner like this year.
But sometimes you just can't argue, Like Messi winning in 2015 or that Ronaldo was not the
clear winner of 2016.The bottom line is : Don't let the views of people who are actually football
fans the same as you decide your winner.
These journalists and players are humans after all and they can be influenced by their nationalities
and many other elements.
Don't consume yourself in these conspiracy theories or heavy arguments, you actually
need to do one thing and that's subscribing to this channel and turning on the bell notification
so that you never miss any of this great content in the future.