Today, we take a look at the Ballon d'Or and why biased voting may see the award lose prestige.
Ronaldo Reveals Secret Behind His Ballon d'Or Shout
After Roy Hodgson opted against voting for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in his ballet, many may be left wondering how much individual opinions count for the award. Hodgson opted to vote for Javier Mascherano, Philipp Lahm and Manuel Neuer when he casted his vote in November.
His biased votes towards defensive players appear to be only one example of where national team coaches or captains casted their votes in favour of their own teammates or personal opinions.
For example, Ronaldo and Messi both opted against casting votes in each other's favour, with Messi picking teammates, Angel Di Maria, Andres Iniesta and Javier Mascherano in his top three. Ronaldo picked Sergio Ramos, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.
The two stars were also far from being the only ones that made 'tactical votes'. Fernando Santos, Portugal's coach, did not rate Messi in his top three either, and Argentina's boss, Gerardo Martino picked three Argentinians. Brazil's Dunga voted for Neymar, and Germany's Joachim Loew selected three German players.
In fact, it was only the captains, whose compatriots and teammates weren't amongst the nominees, that seemed to make remotely objective votes. Thomas Rosicky, with no Arsenal or Czech Republic players amongst the nominees, decided to vote for Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Bastian Schweinsteiger, which is one of only a handful of the so-called 'objective votes'.
Therefore, the question must be asked. Is the bias and favouritism of the Ballon d'Or voting system detracting from its prestige? Do we need to prevent players and coaches from voting for players from their own teams? What must be done to make the Ballon d'Or go to the player that truly deserves it the most?
Please note this article is not supposed to dismiss Cristiano Ronaldo's achievements but wants to raise a concerning question regarding the voting process - which was also used when Messi won his four consecutive awards.
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Do you think the Ballon d'Or voting system is biased? Have your say in the comments section below.
