Winning the Ballon D’or is not only an amazing experience for an athlete but the number one most prestigious recognition a soccer player can receive. Ever since its creation in 1956, every player has dreamed at least once about being the awardee. And even though in the last couple of years it has had its fair share of controversy, in any case, all of the top Asian sportsbooks are going crazy as to who will receive it this time. Care to know why? Keep reading and find out!
The nominees
The list has already been published and amongst this year’s nominees stand out names such as Karim Benzema, Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah, Kylian Mbappé, Kevin De Bruyne, and Cristiano Ronaldo. All of them are big names in the football scene since they are very well-accomplished players. However, the fact is that since 2020 the Ballon D’or has been one of the events that have received the biggest punches, not only due to the pandemic but also due to controversy sparked by some strange decisions by its leadership.
Oddities
It has been speculated that the very reason why Messi wasn’t included in this year’s iteration of the award is that they received a great deal of controversy when in 2021 the Argentinian player won that year’s prize; thus becoming the first player to receive it seven times; it was especially bad since in 2020 Lewandowski should have received it but due to the COVID-19 Pandemic the event had to be suspended, and during the voting process on who should receive it in 2021 The Paris-Saint Germain forward had received 613 points in favor, whilst the Polish player received only 580 points, meaning there was a mere 33 points of separation between the two. The best betting sites in India couldn’t believe it. Messi himself was visibly disheartened when the announcement was made, and during his speech, he recognized that Lewandowski should have won it by saying “Last year everyone was in agreement that you were the winner and I think that France Football should give you the Ballon d’Or that you deserve…”.
However, it was not the first time that an incredibly renowned player didn’t receive the award; for starters before 1995 only European players could be nominated to receive it. This means that legends such as Maradona and Pele and Raul, among others, never got to add the honor amongst their wide sets of accomplishments. Moreover, despite having the qualifications, other superstars like Buffon, Kahn, Maldini, Moore, Cantona, Xavi, Iniesta, Henry, Puskas, and Klinsmann never got the award either. The best betting sites for beginners may not talk much about this, as it’s kind of ancient history at this point. And of course, those were entirely different reasons from what happened in 2020.
One case that does meet some of the criteria comes from 2010; when after one of the most incredible campaigns soccer fans have ever seen, by the now retired pro football player Wesley Sneijder. Back then it seemed like the Dutchman would win the Ballon d’Or, and when he didn’t many argued that he had been robbed of the prize, and to top it all off by none other than Messi himself. So, it almost seems as if history repeated itself just 11 years later. This year, however, things are a whole lot more uncertain; especially so since he was excluded from the list for some reason.
What will happen?
Experts and fans alike have said that it is very possible that the France Football leadership could give this year’s award to Lewandowski to redeem themselves. Nevertheless, the mere possibility of this happening has already outraged many fans, as they see it as a sort of consolation prize or as a means of appeasing the crowd for not giving it to such an outstanding player a lot earlier. In any case, the fact is that odds are running wild at the top Asian bookmakers, and now is the perfect time to take advantage of it all and get some sweet profits.
