After cancelling last season’s ceremony due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ballon d’Or made its grand return on Monday. Nevertheless, not everyone was happy with the outcome of the event.
While Lionel Messi and his supporters were celebrating his seventh triumph, a large section of fans and observers alike felt that Robert Lewandowski should have been handed the honor.
However, fans of Italian football had a whole different reason to be upset with the organizers of the ceremony.
The event included a memoriam segment, paying tribute to former winners Diego Maradona and Gerd Muller who passed away in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
But inexplicably, another legend who happened to win the prize wasn’t mentioned at all.
Juventus and Italy icon Paolo Rossi lost his battle to illness last December, and Calcio fans were angered by France Football who failed to honor his memory.
“We don’t want to get into this sort of controversy, anything I say would be twisted. We cannot read every aspect of the ceremony in a controversial way,” said the magazine’s chief Pascal Ferré to La Gazzetta dello Sport as translated by Football Italia.
“If needs be, I will speak directly to the family of Paolo Rossi.”
Juve FC say
This was probably an unintentional mistake by France Football’s part, but it was one that should have been avoided when you’re organizing an event of this magnitude.
Like Maradona and Muller, the late Rossi is considered to be an icon in his nation thanks to his 1982 World Cup heroics which earned him the Ballon d’Or that year.
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