{"id":3143,"date":"2022-08-24T10:33:48","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T10:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.athleisurex.com\/blog\/?p=3143"},"modified":"2022-08-30T11:30:29","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T11:30:29","slug":"5-legend-players-who-have-slammed-the-ballon-dor-over-the-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.athleisurex.com\/blog\/5-legend-players-who-have-slammed-the-ballon-dor-over-the-years\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Legend Players Who Have Slammed The Ballon D’or Over The Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span>5 Legend Players Who Have Slammed The Ballon D’or Over The Years<\/span><\/h1>\n

The Ballon d\u2019Or is a European football award present since 1956. This football award temporarily merged with FIFA between 2010 and 2015. It was also known as FIFA Ballon d\u2019Or. Eventually, this agreement between these two parties ended in 2016. However, any player in any custom soccer uniform<\/strong><\/a>, who received the joint FIFA Ballon d’Or was the winner of both organizations.<\/p>\n

It is the most prestigious individual award in the football world. This award has gained much popularity in recent years. However, it has an association with some controversies as well. In other words, this Ballon d\u2019Or award was not always a prestigious individual award. Besides this, a long time before 2010 to 2015, FIFA (international governing body) has been awarding players with the title \u201cWorld Player of the Year\u201d since 1991. Since Ballon d\u2019Or establish in 1956, the French news magazine, France Football, started awarding Ballon d\u2019Or to the best individual player. The best award in the football world is the FIFA World Player of the Year. The voting of players and coaches chooses the winner of this award. However, for the Ballon d\u2019Or the votes of journalists and all national team coaches and captains matter. This award depends on the individual player\u2019s performance, fair play, and team performance.<\/p>\n

So, in this article, we will discuss who are the 5 legends that slammed the Ballon d\u2019Or. Let’s have a look.<\/p>\n

Below we mentioned the 5 football legends who spoke against Ballon d\u2019Or over years. Let’s discuss them.<\/p>\n

<\/span>#5 – Johan Cruyff<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"players\"<\/p>\n

Johan Cryuff is a Barcelona and Dutch legend and is one of the greatest players in football history. He, dressed in his custom soccer uniform, won 3 Ballon d\u2019Or awards in 1971,1973, and 1974 in just four years. Irrespective of the fact that he won these awards many times, he slammed Ballon d\u2019Or in 2014; when Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d\u2019Or award for the second time. As Cruyff did not challenge Ronaldo\u2019s excellence and abilities. However, he states that Toni Kroos may be a more deserving winner. In his many interviews, he says that this award is not prestigious to me anymore as everyone supports his own player.<\/p>\n

<\/span>#4 – Philipp Lahm<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"players\"<\/p>\n

After Ronaldo, in 2016 it was Lionel Messi that face criticism. A German football legend Philipp Lahm criticized this award. He declares Ballon d\u2019Or a popularity contest for stickers. He also labeled it as a \u2018World\u2019s Most Visible Players\u201d. He also stated that the win of Italy legend, Fabio Cannavaro is the only true defender who won Ballon d\u2019Or. He wrote, \u201cthe Ballon d\u2019Or is just popularity competition for the attackers\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/span>#3 – Luis Figo<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"players\"<\/p>\n

In a very controversial situation, this legendary player won the Ballon d\u2019Or award in 2000. Many supporters wanted that this award to go to Zinedine Zidane, who was leading France in 2000; also named the best player of that tournament. However, Figo remains in the headlines after his amazing club season. And there was one of the most controversial transfers in football history – his transfer from Barcelona to Real Madrid. Many years later, Figo suggests to France Football that it was a wrong decision. He states that Francesco Totti of AS Roma should win the Ballon d\u2019Or award. He also states that Luka Modric\u2019s win in 2018 was not right. He also suggests that Sergio Ramos was a more deserving player for the Ballon d\u2019Or title.<\/p>\n

<\/span>#2 – Arsene Wenger<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"players\"<\/p>\n

Arsene Wenger, Arsenal\u2019s legendary manager has openly disapproved of the Ballon d\u2019Or award. He stated in 2015, that he is completely against the Ballon d\u2019Or. Many years later, he won the Ballon d\u2019Or and France Football. The former manager suggested that Ballon d\u2019Or was not the objective. He blamed Ballon d\u2019Or for getting into the heads of players.<\/p>\n

<\/span>#1 – Franck Ribery<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"players\"<\/p>\n

The most brutal criticism for Ballon d\u2019Or comes from Bayern Munich and France winger. This criticism come in 2013 when Ribery was third, behind Lionel Messi and winner Cristian Ronaldo in the race of Ballon d\u2019Or. Ribery and Bayern Munich incredibly won the match which shows that winger on his side. He was ultimately the best player of the best team when he made 34-goal contributions in Bavarian\u2019s season.<\/p>\n

If that’s enough, he also won UEFA\u2019s 2012-13 beating both Ronaldo and Messi. However, he did not win this award that year. In 2013, the Ballon d\u2019Or awards is the most controversial of all time. He again lashed out in 2014 when Ranaldo won Ballon d\u2019Or ahead of Messi.<\/p>\n

<\/span>What Is The Importance Of The Ballon D\u2019or In The Football World?<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"players\"<\/p>\n

The Ballon d\u2019Or, the European “Footballer of the Year” award, is one of the most prestigious awards in the football world. Ballon d\u2019Or is the only award decided by 96 journalists. This award depends on individual players’ performance who performed to the highest standards in the past years. Journalist votes for the best players based on their performance. However, this award faces some criticism as some legends thought that it favors some specific players.<\/p>\n

Until 1995, this award was only confined to European league players. Now the Ballon d\u2019Or is for the international player as well. In 2010, France Football magazine and FIFA decided to merge both these awards and present one award \u201cFIFA Ballon d\u2019Or\u201d. This partnership ended in 2016. This is the time when the Ballon d\u2019Or gained popularity across the world. The Ballon d\u2019Or is under critical debate in the football community as this award creating controversies since the 90s. Many football legends have slammed Ballon d\u2019Or for ignoring defenders, keepers, and midfielders. This award is also under criticism because of prioritizing trophies and team brilliance over the individual performance of the players.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n

Ballon d\u2019Or is the most prestigious individual award in football. It has huge popularity around the world. In the past, Ballon d\u2019Or also merged with FIFA for some time period; now they both are again separate awards. Many legends in the football world are against Ballon d\u2019Or. However, it is under criticism since the beginning for favoring some players in a specific custom soccer uniform.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>