Who rigged the FIFA Ballon d’Or awards?

DISCLAIMER: The views in this post are those of the writer alone and do not reflect those of the site.

The awards have been done and dusted with, and one can already see the billowing dust and wind on the red carpet that witnessed Cristiano Ronaldo finally break the 4-year long jinx and win the most coveted individual prize any footballer can win: the Ballon d’Or. As always, no win is ever without a controversy, and after a series of seemingly unfair wins for Lionel Messi (Sneijder and Ronaldo all the way), one has to wonder whether there is a conspiracy involved in this [too].

I, for one, do believe that this Ballon d’Or should have gone to Frank Ribery, for his contributions on the pitch were far more significant. He may not be a striker, so he doesn’t score as much, but for an out-and-out winger, Ribery did more than the excepted conventions of ‘normal’. But of course, that is another argument for another day, and I shall stick to the issue at hand: Is the Ballon d’Or rigged? And if so (why am I doubting this again?), who rigged it? And an even more difficult question, why bother to rig it? Is personal favoritism worth going to the extent of cheating on such a large scale or are their any ulterior motives?

The coach of the Qatar national team states that he was ‘ordered’ by the King of Qatar to give his vote to Cristiano Ronaldo. The King was apparently doing that as a personal favor to Sepp Blatter (for bringing the World Cup 2022 to Qatar), who apparently wanted to clean up his image and prove to everyone that he wasn’t being biased towards Lionel Messi. This suggests that there is indeed foul play involved, and one can only wonder how many such incidents were brushed under the carpet before the Qatar coach blew the whistle. And if we were to walk down the road that suggests that the Ballon d’Or is indeed rigged, we would have a very clear indication as to who the riggers are. No, it’s not Sepp Blatter, it’s you.

Yes, it is the general public who are rigging the Ballon d’Or polls year in and year out. The Ballon d’Or only goes to the ‘most popular’ of all players, and we have been seeing that ever since Ronaldo won it way back in 2008. Considerations such as the position of the player, his assists, his passes, his crossing, and his runs are hardly taken into consideration any more. It’s all about the popularity of the footballer.

FIFA thrives on public support, and any decision that goes against the decision of the public is going to harm them severely in this age, where it’s only money that speaks (of course, the Qatar coach spoke too, but, you get the point). And the public doesn’t have enough time to go through the statistics or actually watch the games for a change. All they know is that there are two players called Ronaldo and Messi in Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively, and that one of them is the best player as of now. Some know that Messi plays for Barcelona, which wins a crap-ton (yes, that is an actual unit of measurement) of trophies, while others know that Ronaldo is the male equivalent of Megan Fox (who is only the hottest actress alive). Their popularity makes them more eligible for the award than anything else. They are talented players no doubt, but their unprecedented dominance at the awards does question the integrity of the voting system. And if anyone rigs them, they have to make sure that they are not upsetting the masses (and THAT is your ulterior motive).

Imagine the amount of pressure that Sepp Blatter faces. If he was anyone other than himself, he would have gone to the police for cyber bullying by now. Facebook would’ve been plastered with Sepp Blatter hate messages. And that is only the start. Football fans go to crazy extents for their favourite teams and players. Cristiano Ronaldo got death threats from Chelsea fans during his time at Manchester, and that was one of the major factors in his decision to jump ships. Imagine the kind of ramifications that Sepp would have been forced to endure had Ronaldo not won the trophy. If the voters did actually vote for their favorites, and if they voted for someone other than Ronaldo (i.e Messi or Ribery), then we would blame Sepp for rigging the awards in someone else’s favor (because that is just what we do).

Frank Ribery, in comparison to Ronaldo, is very unglamorous. Chances are that half the football ‘fans’ haven’t even heard of him and his team. He is the archetypal hardworking man behind the curtains, who silently creates history. But isn’t it the very point for the Ballon d’Or to acknowledge these individuals? Can you think of a single defender winning the Ballon d’Or in the modern day context? Or even a midfielder for that matter? No, because scoring goals, winning trophies, looking good and dating a super model is all there is to a ‘best footballer of the year’ these days. If the award goes to Ribery, every single ‘fan’ of football will be up in arms, severely denting the popularity of Football. The award has to make sure that the public is happy. Would rather give the award to one the best players in the world and be hailed as a fair organization, or would you give it to THE best footballer and face the music.

What makes you think that you are any less of a rigger than Sepp Blatter? I feel that you are actually worse off than him! Because the power that you wield is far greater than the one that Sepp wields. Sepp is merely a puppet to public opinion these days, and all of his decisions are just based off the facebook posts by ‘Troll Football’ (no offense Troll Football, I really love your page). Our blind decision regarding these players is what compels the FIFA to honor them. It is because the incalculable numbers of fools who play keyboard warrior that Ronaldo or Messi win the same award again and again and again. FIFA/ Sepp might be rigging the awards, but it is only to make their bosses happy. They do it to make you happy.

Even the nominations to the FIFPro XI were biased in my opinion, and many authors have already written many megabytes of information expressing the same view again and again. The nominations of player such as Dani Alves and Xavi are confusing to say the least, and unfair without a shred of doubt. The only reason players such as Robben, Schweinsteiger, and Dante didn’t make the cut was because they belonged to a team not as famous and popular as Barcelona. No one who bothered to watch the semi-finals between Barcelona and Bayern Munich would say that they were not good enough. But not many people did bother… most of them don’t even know the results (Bayern won 7-0, just so you know)

Amidst these biased decision, the one decision that was very sensible was the one for ‘Best manager’. The award went to Jupp Henckeyes, who in my opinion was better than any other coach, with perhaps the exception of Jurgen Klopp, for the last season. Even then, Facebook was flooded with posts saying that SAF should have won it. Yet, the award went to Jupp, and the only reason I can give is that the managers aren’t in the limelight as often as the players. And chances are, if you know the manager of a team, you are a serious fan of football, and not just a ‘fan’ of football. Hence, your decision is more likely to be the sensible one.

Sadly for Jupp, SAF’s retirement and Moyes’s downright terrible performance was enough to push him into the limelight just enough to find his way into Facebook posts. While no one in the world can deny that SAF was one of the best gaffers in the business throughout the 26 years of his stewardship of Manchester United, he was nowhere nearly as good as Jupp in the last season. The award couldn’t have gone to a more deserving person.

Another decision that I felt went the right way was the choice for the best goalkeeper of the year. I had a very strong feeling that the award might go to Iker Casillas because he is ‘popular’ but, I was proven wrong on this count (but proven right on another). Iker Casillas didn’t have enough game time under his belt, so not being nominated for the award was justified. Therefore, one might say that the award went to the right man, contrary to what I thought would happen, but the lack of Facebook posts also shows how little people care for goalkeepers. Not even the real tools said that Casillas, Cech, Hart (and believe it or not, Valdes), deserved it more than Neuer.

This might be a bit of a rant and less of an analysis, but if it does manage to convert even one football ‘fan’ into a ‘football fan’, I think it would have served its purpose. And if that is too much to ask, can I request all the ‘fans’ of football to stay off Facebook and stick to the TV instead, because it’s high time the award went to the guy who deserves it.