December 4 – As faux pas go, it was right up there with the most awkward. Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris was in full swing and Norway forward Ada Hegerberg had just won the inaugural award for the best player in women’s football when the moment was tarnished by a moment of chauvanistic indiscretion.
No sooner had she picked up the award than Hegerberg was asked if she would twerk on stage by the host DJ, Martin Solveig.
“You’ve seen that I prepared a little celebration for (France forward) Kylian (Mbappe) so we said we’re going to do something similar. Do you know how to twerk?” said Solveig who co-hosted the ceremony with David Ginola.
Looking distinctly embarrassed Hegerberg answered “no” after Solveig asked her in French to perform the sexually provocative dance.
Later Solveig, whose real name is Martin Picandet, apologised on Twitter while Hegerberg played down the incident.
“He came to me afterwards and was really sad that it went that way. I didn’t really think about it at the time to be honest. I didn’t really consider it a sexual harassment or anything in the moment,” she told the BBC.
Hegerberg earlier spoke of her pride in winning the award and said she hoped it would motivate young female players.
“Being historical and the first woman to win the Ballon d’Or is a huge moment in my life,” she added.
“It is a fantastic day for women’s football… it is important to show young girls that they can believe in themselves and I hope they are inspired by this. They are the future.”
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