The recent scandal involving the Ballon d’Or award has raised some eyebrows, as Juvenal Edjogo, an Equatorial Guinea national team captain, claims his votes were altered before they were made public. Edjogo insists he had chosen Didier Drogba and Andres Iniesta in his top three, as opposed to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo according to the official voting forms. It’s clear that this matter has caused the 43-year-old to be dismissive of the cristal award, which he now feels holds little or no value. The incident has put a slight damper on what is otherwise considered to be one the most prestigious awards in football.
In 2013, Juvenal was determined to have his voice heard in deciding the best players of the season by voting for the Ballon d’Or, but upon the public announcement of who each voter had chosen, it was evident that his votes were not used. This left him with a deep distrust in these types of awards and an overall lack of belief in their value. Ever since this experience, he has been adamant that it is impossible to place a significant monetary or status-based value on awards. His feelings are based on the fact that too often individuals within organizations make decisions about voting selections that interfere with the conviction of voters like himself. While his outlook may be slightly negative, it is difficult to argue with how much power and control can be held by those other than voters themselves within award selection.
The Ballon d’Or has long been enshrined as one of the most esteemed awards in all of football. Established in 1956 by France Football and awarded to the world’s best player, the prize is coveted by many and Ronaldo was lucky enough to pick up the award for a second time – with Messi in second place and Franck Ribery completing the top three. Votes were cast by journalists from each federation, alongside national team captains and coaches, and Ronaldo walked away with 1365 votes in total. In 2017 he made headlines again when he decided to sell his replica Ballon d’Or – a symbol of how much prestige this particular award carries across the sport.
2013 marked a unique year for the Ballon d’Or, as it was extended by two weeks due to “a lack of eligible votes”. The website claims no record of votes submitted and various coaches from around the world may have had their say in the ceremony neglected. Since then, voting is carried out digitally and paper ballots are no longer accepted in an effort by FIFA to establish transparency. Could there have been foul play involved or was this simply down to organizational mismanagement? No one will really know for sure, but it certainly was an unusual Ballon d’Or that year.
