Thursday, November 27, 2014
Frank Ribery speaks out on politics behind FIFA's Ballon D'or
French
player Frank Ribery slams the selection of players for FIFA's Ballon
d'Or award, the Baern Munich winger believes the individual award is
no longer decided on merit, but rather on politcs. Ribery who came in
third in the 2013 voting behind first-runner up Messi and award
winner Cristiano Ronaldo expects team-mates Manuel Neuer or Arjen
Robben to win the the award for their achievements in 2014, he
however believes neither will win the coveted award. Bayern's
goalkeeper Neuer who is regarded as the best in the world helped
Germany in their historic World Cup win, while Holland's Robben had a
great season in both country and club. Speaking in a recent interview
the winger said-
“ Manuel
Neuer or Arjen Robben should win it. You can't disagree with this.
Manu has won it all, he is a great guy and he isn't arrogant. Arjen
has played an incredible season in the Bundesliga and then fantastic
World Cup.”
On the
politics he said- “But I fear it will be about politics again. The
Ballon d'Or is no longer for the best player. It' all about politics.
Fabio Cannavaro won it in 2006 because he won the World Cup, that's
all.”
Although
both men made the 23-man shortlist for the award, Ronaldo is in the
lead to win for the second consecutive year following his
championships league success with his side, Real Madrid.
The
31-year-old player who did not make this year's 23-man list believes
the award has lost all its meaning after he witnessed first hand how
last year's winner(Ronaldo) was treated, speaking to Sport Bild, he
also said-
“I
learned a lot during last year's Ballon d'Or gala. As soon as I got
there, I told my wife that I would lose. He also stated: “I saw how
Sepp Blatter was hugging Ronaldo and how his entire family was there.
I'm not stupid. It was clear that he had to win it. He wouldn't have
brought his entire family with him otherwise.”
Emphasizing
that there will be a repeat action of last year's gala, Ribery said-
“It
will be the same this year. What can I say about it.”
Disregarding
any notion of personal or self-interest he also stated-
“I
don't miss the Ballon d'Or. I am not jealous because this award
doesn't mean anything to me any more. I am happy with that I have in
Munich. When 70, 000 fans are screaming my name at the Allianz Arena,
I get goosebumps. I can go home happy after that.”
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