Pascal Ferré Ballon d'Or controversy revelations

Pascal Ferré, the former head of the Ballon d’Or and editor-in-chief of France Football, has released a book titled ‘The Hidden Face of the Ballon d’Or’ (also referred to as ‘The Dark Side of the Ballon d’Or’) detailing behind-the-scenes controversies regarding the prestigious football award.

In interviews with Marca to promote the book, Ferré recounted an attempted bribery involving a football agent. He described a meeting where an agent representing a nominated player asked if he could ‘sell’ the player’s candidacy to the jury. After Ferré refused the request and stepped away to answer a phone call, the agent vanished, leaving a mysterious envelope on the table. Ferré did not open the envelope and instead handed it to hotel reception.

Discussing the era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Ferré characterized both players as ‘aliens’ who dominated the sport between 2008 and 2017. He noted that while Real Madrid has exerted significant historical influence over the award, he denied that President Florentino Pérez ever personally contacted him to lobby for players. Ferré claimed that Ronaldo and Real Madrid were more effective at lobbying for the award than their rivals, though he emphasized they operated ‘within the rules of the game.’

Ferré also shared personal anecdotes regarding past winners, noting the emotional reaction of Luka Modrić upon learning of his 2018 win and the unexpectedly calm response from Karim Benzema in 2022, who later explained his reaction was limited by his surroundings at the time.