"The voters of the Ballon d'Or are not naive. They have the experience and judgement needed to assess and gauge a player without having to hear 10 or 15 times that he is the best."
"If a player occupies the spotlight in a strange way, giving the impression that they are pushing the voters into a decision, it can eventually start to irritate voters."
"At that point, the manipulation becomes rather obvious."
September 28, 2026 5

