Ballon d'Or 2024: one controversy too many

Is the 2024 Ballon d'Or a symbol of an award in freefall? By handing the trophy to Rodri, an impeccable Spanish midfielder, the organisers have provoked an outcry. Real Madrid, in a gesture as rare as it was symbolic, boycotted the ceremony, outraged that Vinicius was not among the winners. That show of defiance, if one were still needed, highlights the growing unease around an award meant to recognise the "best player of the year". Behind the glitz and glamour, though, the Ballon d'Or seems to be losing its meaning, clouded by shifting, partial and even absurd criteria.

A ceremony out of touch with reality

Some voters' choices look increasingly out of touch with what happens on the pitch. By rewarding Rodri, the jury say they are valuing "collective football", which sidelines brilliant individuals such as Vinicius, who has been branded "individualistic". The intention may be admirable on paper, but it looks disingenuous in practice: how can we explain that a player like Carvajal, winner of the Euros and the Champions League, was not rated like Rodri for that same team spirit?

Read also: Ballon d'Or 2024: after all the controversy, Rodri crowned ahead of Vinicius

This double standard baffles and irritates; it gives the impression of a trophy handed out according to fashion and whim, rather than on solid foundations. Back to the voters being out of touch: what are we to make of the El Salvador representative who left the Brazilian out of his top 10? Objectivity, did you say? But let's not pick the wrong fight: this is not a plea for one player or another. It goes beyond that.

An opaque system, muddled criteria, a lack of universality

The problem with the Ballon d'Or is not only the final choice; it is the opacity surrounding it. The selection criteria change from year to year, as if a favourable wind were enough to steer the decisions. How many players have been "robbed" by this capricious process? Franck Ribéry in 2013, overlooked in favour of Ronaldo; Luka Modric, who edged out the French world champions in 2018; or Lewandowski, left empty-handed in 2020 without even a ceremony... The list of injustices keeps growing, to the point of calling the trophy's very legitimacy into question.

And what about the latest restriction, which limits the voting countries to only the top 100 in the FIFA rankings? In short, only "well-ranked" countries, often those with considerable resources and, above all, overwhelmingly "developed" ones, get a vote. Narrowing the electorate like this is nothing but contempt for less high-profile, more modest nations, as if football were only played in Europe and South America. By cutting part of the globe out of the decision-making process, the Ballon d'Or severs itself from the universality it claims to represent.

Time for a radical overhaul

As it stands, the Ballon d'Or has become a farce: a prestigious prize for some, a worthless bauble for others. If this award wants to regain a semblance of credibility, its format urgently needs rethinking. A single prize no longer suits the diversity of the modern game. Why not consider awards by position, honouring the best goalkeeper, the best defender, the best midfielder and the best forward? That approach would celebrate every type of talent, without constantly pitting players with different roles against each other, or artificially promoting a "perfect" player, a concept that simply has no place (any more?).

Let's go further: why not introduce numerical, transparent criteria? Let's define a "best player" using verifiable statistics: goals scored, assists, decisive interventions, major trophies won... Let's stop locking this trophy into purely subjective criteria. If the Ballon d'Or does not adapt, it will keep fuelling frustration and indifference. Instead of bringing football fans together, it divides them, leaves them grumbling and has lost all the meaning it once had.

The Ballon d'Or has lost its bearings, and this 2024 edition only proves it. Until clarity, consistency and respect for world football as a whole are on the agenda, the trophy will keep treading water, stuck in archaic and partisan logic. It is time to turn the page. If football is universal, the Ballon d'Or must stop being a private club and become an honest, transparent and unifying award again. And, ironically, amid all this controversy, Rodri makes a very fine winner. That is the whole paradox.

Malick BAMBA