Interview by Cyrille de La Morinerie and Lionel Rosso, edited by Gauthier Delomez
Support that will delight the French clan. At the microphone of Europe 1, the former leader of Fifa, Sepp Blatter, claimed that the French striker Karim Benzema “would have deserved the Ballon d’Or” this season, at the expense of the Argentine star Lionel Messi who won a seventh individual award at the end of November 2021.
Is this too much reward for Lionel Messi? The Argentinian received a seventh Ballon d’Or at the end of November, which caused controversy in the world of football. Some observers believe, without questioning the talent of the PSG star, that other players, like Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, fully deserved it. Sepp Blatter meanwhile confides, in an exceptional interview given to Europe 1, that the Frenchman Karim Benzema “would have deserved the Ballon d’Or”. The former Fifa leader, a big supporter of Real Madrid and number 9 attackers, would have preferred to see Parisian playmaker Leo Messi be awarded a “consolation prize”.
The anger of no longer seeing Fifa associated with the Ballon d’Or
In the show Europe 1 Sports, the former Fifa leader is categorical: “No”, Lionel Messi did not deserve to win a new Ballon d’Or. An award given by the newspaper France Soccer, which is no longer associated with the highest body in world football. “Fifa gave up the Ballon d’Or too easily because we didn’t read the contract”, explains the ex-president, who regrets that he no longer sees the most prestigious individual award in football being awarded to Zurich , at FIFA headquarters.
“France Soccer saw that our Ballon d’Or had a different international resonance than theirs”, indicates Sepp Blatter, who points to a new error by his successor at the head of Fifa. “When (Gianni) Infantino arrived, he wanted to make the Ballon d’Or in London, so straight away it was over. The Ballon d’Or is gone”, he grumbles at the microphone of Europe 1. From now on, the international body organizes another annual ceremony, “The Best”, which consecrates the best footballers. On January 18, it has also crowned the Polish Robert Lewandowski with the prize for the best player of the season.