Juvenal Edjogo, a former captain of Equatorial Guinea, has asserted that he did not vote for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the 2013 Ballon d’Or, and was shocked to see the changes that were made to his vote as if he did.
In 2013, Messi finished second, and Franck Ribery took third place, with Ronaldo taking home the Ballon d’Or. After an outstanding season with Bayern Munich, many people thought the Frenchman deserved the trophy.
Edjoga stated during an interview with the Spanish sports network Gol Play that he does not believe in football awards since votes are tampered with. He cited his votes for the 2013 Ballon d’Or as an example:
“What little I can say about this type of award is that in 2013, I voted for my three players for the Ballon d’Or, and I sent my votes, and in the end when it was made public, the list of who voted for who, my votes were different. It said I voted for Messi, Cristiano, and I don’t know who else, but I didn’t vote for any of them. That’s why I say, I don’t believe in absolutely anything about those awards. Since then, I’ve thought these awards have no value.”
The star of Real Madrid, Toni Kroos, expressed his opinion that Robert Lewandowski should have received the Ballon d’Or instead of Lionel Messi in 2021. The former teammate of Cristiano Ronaldo thinks that while the Portuguese and Argentines dominated the previous ten years, others will emerge as champions in 2021. He remarked:
“It is absolutely not deserved. There is no doubt that Messi, with Cristiano, has been the player of the last decade, but this year, there should’ve been others ahead of him.”
Iker Casillas expressed a similar viewpoint and noted that he also found it challenging to accept football honours. He said: “It is increasingly difficult for me to believe in football awards. Messi is one of the five best players in the history of football but you have to know who is the most outstanding player after the season. It’s not that hard.”
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have 12 Ballons d’Or between them, with the Argentine taking home the award seven times, leading the field.
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