French soccer star Franck Ribery says Cristiano Ronaldo won FIFAs Ballon dOr because of politi
Bayern Munich midfielder Franck Ribery of France has lost his faith in FIFA and its Ballon d’Or award, which Ribery lost to Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal earlier this year. But, he says, it’s not because he’s a sore loser.
“The Ballon d’Or is no longer for the best player; it’s all about politics,” Ribery told the German magazine Sport Bild (via Goal.com). “Fabio Cannavaro won it in 2006 because he won the World Cup, that’s all,” he added, indicating that the players who have received the award from 2007 on may not have truly deserved it.
Ribery did have a great 2013. He helped his team win the Champions League, as well as the Bundesliga title and the DFB-Pokal, a German knock-out tournament. UEFA even recognized him as the best player in Europe in 2013.
“I won everything, with the team and individually,” Ribery told Munich’s TZ newspaper earlier this year (via The Guardian), after he learned he placed third in the FIFA Ballon d’Or competition behind Ronaldo and Messi, who came in second. “Ronaldo won nothing.”
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Ribery tells Sport Bild that the award presentation taught him a lot about what he now assumes are the behind-the-scenes goings on at FIFA.
“I learned a lot during last year’s Ballon d’Or gala,” he said. “As soon as I got there, I told my wife that I would lose. I saw how [FIFA President] Sepp Blatter was hugging Ronaldo and how his entire family was there. I’m not stupid. It was clear that he had to win it. He wouldn’t have brought his entire family with him otherwise.”
Ribery, who’s suffered from injury this year, wasn’t nominated for the next award, which will be given out in 2015, added he has little faith anything will change going forward. He fears this means his Bayern teammates and World Cup standouts Manuel Neuer and Arjen Robben, both of whom made the 23-man shortlist announced in late October, will not win. He explains:
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“It will be the same this year. What can I say about it? Manuel Neuer or Arjen Robben should win it. You can’t disagree with this. Manu has won it all, he is a great guy and he isn’t arrogant. Arjen has played an incredible season in the Bundesliga and then a fantastic World Cup. But I fear it will be about politics again.”
Six players from Bayern Munich made the shortlist, but most insiders have said Neuer, who led Germany to a World Cup win by nearly shutting out Brazil in the final match, is the only one under serious consideration. He will be up against other heavyweights, including Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, who recently broke two goal-scoring records, as well as last year’s winner Ronaldo, who is leading the goal tally in La Liga this season.
Ribery added he doesn’t mind being off the list.
“I don’t miss the Ballon d’Or,” he said. “I am not jealous because this award doesn’t mean anything to me any more. I am happy with what I have in Munich. When 70,000 fans are screaming my name at the Allianz Arena, I get goosebumps. I can go home happy after that.”
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