“Real Madrid know how to organize great campaigns for the Ballon d’Or”

The director of France Football, Pascal Ferre, silent on the identity of the next winner of golden ball, that will be known this Monday, and in front of the situation of the favorite of Karim Benzema recognize that “Madrid knows how to orchestrate campaigns” to push their players towards the award.

“Florentino Perez properly organize campaigns, secretly, without drift, everything he does is authorized,” said Ferré in an interview with Agencia EFE.

The man who has been in charge of the prize-giving magazine since 1956 makes sure of that campaigns that “don’t make you win, but you can lose when there is a bad message or a bad act”.

“There is machinery like Real Madrid which is very strong. Their genius is that they support a single player. For years it was Cristiano Ronaldo and now it’s this Karim Benzema It prevents the spread of votes,” he said.

“They know how it works. It’s no coincidence that the club has won it the most times,” Ferré said in the office he has occupied since 2005, which has shirts signed by players from all eras.

Ferre remembered that the reputation off the pitch is also a criterion when it comes to awarding points, but he doesn’t think Benzema’s conviction for complicity in blackmail should stand in the way of him becoming the first Frenchman to win the award since Zinedine Zidane in 1998.

“I think has been considered by the jury, but I don’t think it’s an important element. The Ballon d’Or is not the Nobel Peace Prize, they vote for eleven months of competition,” he said.

“Messi is the Ballon d’Or

For the first time in fifteen years, the Argentine Leo Messiwinner of seven editions, was not among the candidates, “a monumental event in the history of the award”, according to Ferré, considering that “The Ballon d’Or is Messi and Messi is the Ballon d’Or”.

“Their record It will be a very difficult match, he is someone who reflects the Ballon d’Or, because he combines individual and collective performance, but also a certain idea of ​​the show and a long life,” he affirmed.

Remember the Argentine”very excited” when he called her the last two times to announce that he was the winner.

“In 2019 he told me that he forgot the feeling of satisfaction that came from winning it (after three years of the last one), he realized that I missed it. In 2021 I had the impression that I was talking to a child,” he said.

Also remember the excitement of Christian Rolando when it was announced in several editions and he believed that the Portuguese “He does not digest well staying behind his great rival”.

“This is a very important prize for them. The Ballon d’Or is one of the few things that cannot be bought. That they humble themselves in front of this kind of reward, makes them children,” he added.

Messi and Ronaldo “They starred in one of the most intense rivalries in the history of sport,” said Ferré, happy that the Ballon d’Or contributed to fueling it, while considering that it will be a while until a similar rivalry is repeated .

“There’s a lot to talk about rivalry between Mbappé and Haaland, but none of them won the Champions League. At Mbappé’s age, Messi already has two Ballon d’Ors. If they want to establish a similar rivalry, they need to start winning big trophies now. Messi and Ronaldo didn’t last long,” he said.

Ferré knows that the Ballon d’Or is not without controversy “because everyone has their favorite”but when he reviews the list of winners he believes “no one can spoil the award”.

Xavi and Iniesta, a scar

“I believe that nothing left on that list. Obviously some names are missing. I think there are three, the Polish Robert Lewandowski and the Spanish Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta”, he admitted.

“For me it’s a big scar, because (Xavi and Iniesta) are two players I put very high and They embody football as conceived by the Ballon d’Or. But in 2010 they had Messi in front of them and I think they paid for the fact that in the Spanish team the votes were distributed among many names, which reduced their support,” he recalled.

You know that for many Raul Gonzalez is another one of those who are not on the list of winners, but he believes that “he is one step below“and remember he didn’t win the World Cup.

On LewandowskiFerré also regrets that the Pole did not win it in 2020, when he was the great favorite but France Football decided not to give it because of the pandemic.

“We did it out of a desire to be fair, not all championships stop. Robert keeps telling me that if I don’t regret it, but I think we did the right thing”he pointed out.

His phone hasn’t stopped ringing for days. “Representatives, clubs, players… they want to know if they won, it is something unavoidable“.

The 2022 winner already knows that he will hug the golden trophy next Monday. Ferré has passed through customary ceremony of going to announce it in person at your home.

“We try to keep maximum secrecy. Sometimes we dress up so that no one sees us when we arrive. And we tell the winner not to tell his wife or his children,” he said.