This year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony was as controversial as the rest. It was down to two potential winners: either Inter Miami star Lionel Messi or Manchester City star Erling Haaland. Messi was crowned the winner for his record-holding eighth time, cementing him as the most accomplished and arguably the greatest footballer ever. At 36, he also becomes the second oldest player to ever win the award, just ahead of last year’s winner, Karim Benzema.
It was a close race between Messi and Haaland, but the 100 voters ultimately picked Messi to win it. Winning the World Cup with Argentina was all he needed to submit his legacy for this year and his career, and that was enough for the voters. It was a controversial second-place finish for Haaland because he scored a record-breaking 36 goals in the Premier League last year, winning the league and also winning the Champions League and the FA Cup. With Haaland at the helm, Manchester City were able to get over the Champions League hump, winning for the first time and also completing the treble. However, that wasn’t enough to beat the 36-year-old Messi.
While there was unrest in Haaland for coming in second in the award, a more important event was how the women’s football schedule clashed with the award ceremony. When Spain World Cup winner Aitana Bonmatí went up onto the stage to collect the Ballon d’Or Féminin, many of the best players in the women’s game weren’t able to celebrate her accomplishment. According to ESPN, one of the English nominees, Georgia Stanway, said, “It’s unfortunate we couldn’t be there. That’s something we spoke as a player group [about], and we just kind of said it would be nice in the future if it wasn’t on a matchday so that we could enjoy the experience.”
Others, like Stanway, also shared their frustration with the timing of the event. The award ceremony was hosted during the women’s international window, giving a look into FIFA’s top priorities and showing that women’s football may not be the highest. While Messi was able to celebrate his award with his family in no rush, Bonmati had to leave Spain’s camp between games to collect her award and then rush back to join her team again.
This isn’t the first time at the ceremony that the woman’s game has been overshadowed by the men. In 2018, when Luka Modric and Ada Hegerberg both won their respective trophies, Hegerberg was asked if she knew how to twerk as she was accepting her trophy, while Modric was only asked football-related questions.
If FIFA doesn’t stop kicking the women’s game to the side, the Ballon d’Or ceremony can truly be a celebration for all of the best footballers. However, until FIFA makes significant changes, it will be the women who are struggling to enjoy their achievements for a plethora of reasons. The debate should be about the players and who should have won the award instead of how one side was treated compared to the other.
“Ballon d’Or” by loli jackson is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.