Ballon d’Or award: Jose Mourinho voices clear criticism

“You can not award the Ballon d’Or to a participant simply because he has received the Champions League or the World Cup,” the Portuguese mentioned at Actual’s press convention earlier than Sunday’s sport towards promoted facet FC Malaga on the Santiago Bernabeu.

He argued the award must be reserved for gamers who outline an period and are nonetheless missed by the game lengthy after they retire. “For me, the Ballon d’Or has to go to a kind of gamers we’ll miss for eternity once they cease enjoying. I miss Maradona, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano, Messi, Zizou, Lothar Matthäus… I miss these individuals,” mentioned Mourinho.

In keeping with Mourinho, if the principle goal is to reward workforce success, there are higher choices. “If you wish to honour the Champions League, it’s best to give the Ballon d’Or to Luis Enrique – the coach’s Ballon d’Or, representing the workforce. Or to the Spain nationwide workforce. Mister De la Fuente definitely deserves the coach’s Ballon d’Or. That will be the nice honour for a workforce that goes down in historical past,” Mourinho defined.

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How does Jose Mourinho criticise the awarding of the Ballon d’Or?

Mourinho believes particular person efficiency must be judged individually. “One thing else is the very best participant on the earth. He doesn’t need to be from Paris Saint-Germain or from the Spain nationwide workforce,” Mourinho defined, including: “The most effective participant on the earth are two, three or 4, and we all know who they’re and the place they’re. And they’re right here. And we all know who made historical past individually this summer time.”

The 63-year-old additionally questioned the factors utilized by these making the choice. “Perhaps the Ballon d’Or can be one thing political. And when politics comes into it, I do not prefer it fairly a lot any extra. my opinion on the Ballon d’Or. We’re not going to invent something new now with both the Spain nationwide workforce or Paris Saint-Germain. Gamers? That is one thing else,” mentioned Mourinho.

The seventieth Ballon d’Or ceremony will happen on Monday, 26 October, and it brings a particular innovation. To mark the anniversary, the celebrated gala shall be held in London for the primary time reasonably than in Paris. Since 1956, France Soccer has awarded the Ballon d’Or annually to the very best participant of the earlier season.

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How does the awarding of the Ballon d’Or work?

The evaluation interval for the Ballon d’Or runs from 1 August 2025 to 31 July 2026. Which means performances at membership degree and the 2026 World Cup in North America are each taken into consideration.

A complete of 100 journalists from international locations ranked among the many prime 100 nations within the FIFA world rankings forged the vote. Every media consultant selects a private prime 10 from the official shortlist and distributes factors on a sliding scale: the participant in first place receives 15 factors, second will get 12, third 10, fourth 8 and fifth 7 factors. Locations six to 10 are rewarded with 5, 4, 3, 2 and one level.

Ballon d’Or: The previous ten winners