By Andrew Warshaw
January 21 – Some might call it sour grapes, others that it is a totally justified argument. But Franck Ribery’s angry reaction at being overlooked at last week’s Ballon d’Or award has certainly stirred up debate.
In the tightest vote for years, the Bayern Munich star was squeezed into third place by Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at the annual ceremony in Zurich. Ribery showed little or no emotion at the time but was left fuming at how he could have lost after all the success he had last season.
The French attacking midfielder was part of the Bayern team that won the Champions League, Bundesliga, German Cup, Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, while Ronaldo’s Real Madrid ended the year without a trophy.
Although Ronaldo’s individual performances were nothing short of brilliant, Ribery feels his achievements should have counted for more.
“I won everything, with the team and individually. Ronaldo won nothing,” he said in an interview with Munich’s TZ newspaper. “I feel I had earned this award. It’s all politics.”
Ribery, who won UEFA’s equivalent award for the best player in Europe, said he had lost interest in the prize. “The Ballon d’Or doesn’t interest me any more. I am not sad that I missed out, but it does hurt a bit.”
Ribery appeared to suggest changes were made in this year’s voting system deliberately to help Ronaldo’s cause. After the deadline was extended, Ronaldo went on to almost single-handedly earn Portugal a place in the World Cup finals at the expense of Sweden.
“It was clear that Ronaldo would win it,” said Ribery. “The voting deadline was extended by two weeks. This had never happened before. It wasn’t about football. It was a political decision.”
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