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Fraud
The Golden Ball in 2021 did not go to top favorite Robert Lewandowski, but to Lionel Messi.
Now it appears that this election is also being mentioned in a larger investigation into fraudulent practices at French football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), writes Le Monde.
The French justice system has been investigating all kinds of abuses within the Paris football club, which has been in Qatari hands since 2011, for more than a year. Research site Mediapart revealed earlier this week that PSG may have been helped by then-Finance Minister Gérald Darmanin to complete the top transfer of Brazilian footballer Neymar. As part of this investigation, however, they also discovered possible influence on the annual Golden Ball award ceremony to the best soccer player in the world.
Shortly after the award ceremony in November 2021, the question arose as to whether Messi was the rightful winner. Finally, Polish striker Robert Lewandowski had a bad year at Bayern Munich, while the Argentine had a bad one at Barcelona last season and then got off to a slow start at his new club PSG. But the expert jury, consisting of journalists from all over the world, gave Messi more points.
Gifts
Maybe there was more going on. Messages obtained by Mediapart, which are part of the French justice investigation, show that between 2019 and 2021 there were regular contacts between PSG’s then communications director, Jean-Martial Ribes, and Pascal Ferré, then editor-in-chief of France Football. the French magazine that awards the Golden Ball.
Ferré is said to have received several gifts from the club, including VIP tickets to games at the Parc des Princes – home of PSG – and a business class return flight to Doha on Qatar Airways. In return, he is said to have written positive articles, including a laudatory portrait of PSG chairman Nasser al-Khelaifi. He wanted Messi to win the Golden Ball. “We are lobbying, so let’s have lunch with Pascal,” Ribes wrote to al-Khelaifi in September 2021, on the eve of a meeting between the three men, according to Mediapart.
Ribes was already suspected of seven crimes in December, including corruption. His lawyer denied to Le Monde that there could be any influence in this competition, as a professional jury of journalists decides the winner. This is also emphasized by Lionel Dangoumau, editorial director of the media group L’Équipe, to which France Football belongs. “The Golden Ball is awarded after a vote by a jury of one hundred journalists from one hundred countries (in 2021 there were 180 journalists, editor’s note). This protects the price from any attempts to influence it and ensures independence.”
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