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Published 02:55 IST, March 3rd 2023

Former footballer makes shocking revelation on Ballon d’Or voting; 'My votes were changed'

Both Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the list and this time too, Messi is tipped to lift the honour due to his World Cup heroics with Argentina.

Reported by: Anirban Sarkar
Image: AP | Image: self

Former footballer Juvenal Edjogo lambasted the Ballon d'Or award claiming his votes were changed back in the 2023 edition of the prize ceremony. Edjogo who also happens to be the former captain Equatorial Guinea national team explained how his choice of players got changed into Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the voting forms. Messi recently won the prestigious FIFA's The Best Men's Player Award accolade by beating the likes of Kylian Mbappe.

Former footballer claimed Ballon d'Or was rigged

The prestigious Ballon d'Or is awarded every year for immense contribution to the field of football. Both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the list and this time too Messi is tipped to lift the honour due to his World Cup heroics with Argentina pretty recently. But Edjogo's sensational claims has rocked the football world. The 43-year-old, who also donned jersies of clubs like Alaves and Levante, revealed he opted to vote for Andreas Iniesta and Didier Drogba but later he came to know his votes were altered.

“What little I can say about this type of award is that in 2013, I voted for my three players for the Ballon d’Or, and I sent my votes, and in the end when it was made public, the list of who voted for who, my votes were different.

“It said I voted for Messi, Cristiano, and I don’t know who else, but I didn’t vote for any of them. That’s why I say, I don’t believe in absolutely anything about those awards.

"Since then, I’ve thought these awards have no value.”

Several people provided their opinions on social media.

Updated 02:53 IST, March 3rd 2023

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