"Real Madrid knows how to support their players to win the Ballon d'Or"
The director of France Football spoke about the campaigns to influence the vote just days away from the announcement of the winner
Since the Ballon d'Or was first awared in 1956 (to Sir Stanley Matthews of Blackpool), 11 times the prize has been given to a Real Madrid player. That's why Pascal Ferré, the director of the magazine who awards football's most prestigious individual accolade, France Football, thinks that "Real Madrid really knows how to orchestrate campaigns" to push the voters to consider those wearing their famous white shirt.
Karim Benzema looks poised to take the award
The 2022 Ballon d'Or, the second one to be handed since the ceremony was halted due to the 2020 pandemic, will be awarded on October 17th. It will be the first time the award is given so early into the season, mainly due to the World Cup in Qatar being hosted (also for the first time) during the European winter. In the eyes of most, it's another Madridista, Karim Benzema, who's the favourite to take the award.
"Florentino Pérez orchestrates the campaigns well, tacitly, without drift, everything he does is authorized", assured Ferré during a recent interview. However, he assures that voters aren't as easily swayed: "Campaigns don't make you win, but they can make you lose when there is a bad message or a bad gesture".
According to Ferré, the best strategy is to maximize efforts on a single candidate: "There are machines like Real Madrid's that are very strong. Their intelligence is that they support a single player. For years it was Cristiano Ronaldo and now it is Karim Benzema. That prevents the votes from being dispersed".
According to Ferré, Lionel Messi is someone who embodies the spirit of the award
However, when it comes to highlight a single winner, Ferré thought of a different set of colours: "The Ballon d'Or is Messi and Messi is the Ballon d'Or. His record is going to be very difficult to match, he is someone who embodies the Ballon d'Or well, because he combines individual and collective performance, but also a certain idea of the spectacle and a long longevity".
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