The winner of the Ballon d’Or for the 2023-2024 season will be announced on October 28 in Paris, and the magazine that organizes it, France Football, announced the 30 candidates for the award on Thursday.
Looking at the list, it is surprising not to see Inter Miami player and Argentina national team captain Lionel Messi included, which is undoubtedly a crime.
Everything seems to indicate that those who chose the candidates commissioned by this French magazine had orders or were afraid to nominate the 8-time winner of this award because he could be nominated again and the order was to avoid it at all costs and that is why they left him out for the first time since 2005.
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Messi had done enough to be on the list, after winning the Leagues Cup, beating all the teams in the MLS and Liga MX with Inter Miami, which is no small feat; in addition to lifting the Copa America champion’s trophy with Argentina.
Of course, at 36 he wasn’t the same, but he was better than almost everyone else on the list, some of whom are far from having his quality and speed, not to mention the influence he has on the rest of his teammates, so much so that they would avoid sitting at his table if they saw him eating, something that Cristiano Ronaldo, the other banished player in this squad, would do.
It doesn’t mean that Messi should win the Ballon d’Or for having been so good, but for what he did this season. Those who didn’t nominate him didn’t see him play, and if it was an order, it’s a disservice to an award that is becoming more and more of a joke. Of course, Europe has the best leagues, but not necessarily the best players.
La Liga and the Premier League are at the top, followed by the Bundesliga and Serie A. The rest are not much better than the MLS or the Saudi Arabian League.
These 11 players appear on this list from France Football without knowing why. Ruben Dias (Man City/Portugal), Granit Germany), Declan Rice (Arsenal/England), Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter Milan/Turkey), William Saliba (Arsenal/France), Ademola Lookman (Atalanta/Nigeria) and Alejandro Grimaldo (Leverkusen, Spain).
Some of them are completely unknown to most football fans and the question is: What did these footballers do to be above Messi?
Perhaps we can admit these others who, although they are still below the Argentine star, are good or their teams or national teams have been better. These should be there, but the 11 know that they are not going to win the award.
Harry Kane (Bayern/England), Vitinha (PSG/Portugal), Phil Foden (Man City-England), Federico Valverde (RealMadrid/Uruguay), Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa/Argentina), Nico Williams (A. Bilbao/Spain), Dani Olmo Leipzig-Barca/ Spain), Cole Palmer (Chelsea/England), Lamine Yamal (Barça/Spain), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal/England) and Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid/Germany).
Then, there are the eight real candidates for the title of Best Footballer or Most Valuable Player from last season.
Rodri (Man City/Spain), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid. England), Vinicius Jr. (Real Madrid/Brazil), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid/Spain), Kylian Mbappé (PSG-Real Madrid-France), Erling Haaland (Man City/Norway), Toni Kross (Real Madrid/Germany) and Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan/Argentina).
Here the Euro Cup and the Copa America should have more weight, then the Champions League and finally the local leagues.
But this is a disgrace. Now we will have to see what happens with the votes of the 180 sports journalists which should be based on the level of play shown, goals, and titles both at club and national team level.
The winners should be Rodri, Bellingham, and Carvajal in any order.
Rodri was the leader of Man City and Spain in the Euro Cup, the tournament that carries the most weight and fell to the champions in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Bellingham finished second at the European Championship and, like Carvajal, who was also a champion of that tournament, was key in winning the Champions League and the Spanish league.
Both were better than Vinicius, who was a disaster in the Copa America that was won by the best of them all: Lionel Messi.
