It seems that former French international Frank Ribery still feels sad because of what happened years ago in the Golden Ball Award and responded to Cristiano Ronaldo Who claimed that the players need to win the Champions League in order to compete for the Golden Ball award.
During a press conference on the eve of the European Nations League final against Spain tomorrow, Sunday, Ronaldo, 40, who spent the last and a half seasons in the Saudi Al -Nasr Club, said, “I think the prize winner should be from the team crowned with titles. The crowned ball must be from the team that won the Champions League.”
In response to the statement of the former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker, Ribery published his account on the social networking site “Instagram” a message that “then, you must win the Champions League to win the Golden Ball?”, Accompanied by laughing expressive symbols.
In 2013, the Portuguese won the highest individual award in the world, beating Ribery, who presented an exceptional season with Bayern Munich and won the Champions League title, and proved his worth in all the competitions he fought, and was chosen the best player in Europe by the European Football Association.
So you NEED to win the Champions League to win the Ballon d’Or? 🤣🤣🤣
– Franck Ribéry (@Franckribery) June 7, 2025
Ribery was widely expected to win the Golden Ball award, but he lost it against Ronaldo, amid allegations that the voting process was “unfair”.
Ronaldo, who did not win any title with Real Madrid in 2013, won 27.99%of the votes, Messi, 24.72%, and Ribi over 23.36%.
Ronaldo won the Golden Ball award 5 times during his career, and comes second behind Lionel Messi, who won the award 8 times while Ribery never won the award.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper “Gazeta dello Sport” in 2022, Ribery criticized the decision to give Ronaldo’s golden ball to 2013. The French said, “It was unfair.”
“It was a great season for me, and I was supposed to win it. I extended the vote period and a strange thing I felt was a political choice,” he added.
Source: Websites + social media sites