Lewandowski should file a petition, it's cruel to take Ballon d'Or away: Rio Ferdinand

Bayern Munich hitman Robert Lewandowski is enjoying one of his best individual seasons in his professional career. The Poland international is the leading goalscorer across Europe and was touted as one of the favourites to clinch the Ballon d'Or award for his scintillating performances this season. However, the decision by France Football to cancel the award for this year hasn't gone down particularly well with Manchester United great Rio Ferdinand. 

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Rio Ferdinand urges Lewandoski to launch petition for Ballon d'Or 

Man United legend Ferdinand has claimed that Lewandowski should file a petition to force France Football to reverse its decision of cancelling the Ballon d'Or this season. The Ballon d'Or is awarded by France Football every year in December to the best player throughout the season. National team captains, managers and a select few journalists vote for the winner. 

Currently, Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi leads the charts with six Ballon d'Ors to his credit. He is followed by Juventus ace Cristiano Ronaldo, who has bagged the prestigious award five times in his career. However, this time around, Lewandowski was touted as the favourite to clinch the award having already netted 53 goals across all competitions in the current campaign.

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Lewandowski deserves Ballon d'Or: Rio Ferdinand 

Speaking to TEAMTalk, Ferdinand claimed that if it were him in place of Lewandowski, he would immediately launch a campaign to reinstate the award. He asserted that apart from Luka Modric, Messi and Ronaldo have dominated the award for 11 years but Lewandowski was the standout performer this season. Ferdinand described France Football's decision to cancel the Ballon d'Or this year as 'cruel'.

Ferdinand insisted that Lewandowski deserves the Ballon d'Or. He even went to the extent of advising the authorities to reinstate the award ceremony if the Poland international guides Bayern Munich to Champions League glory. The Bavarians defeated Chelsea to book a date with Barcelona in the quarter-final of the Champions League. Ferdinand called the decision a disgrace, insisting that the Ballon d'Or is a recognition for the best performer of the year. 

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Barcelona vs Bayern to be played on Friday 

The Bavarian giants will go up against Barcelona on Friday (Saturday IST). Lewandowski has already bagged 13 goals and four assists in the competition and will look to continue his scintillating run of form in front of goal when he comes up against Marc Andre ter Stegen at the Estadio da Luz. 

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Image courtesy: Ferdinand, Champions League Twitter