‘I Should’ve Beaten Messi & Ronaldo to the Ballon d’Or – It Was a Political Decision’

After Kaka won the Ballon d’Or in 2007, the football world had to wait a further 11 years until someone other than Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi didn’t win the award. That was when Luka Modric won it in 2018. There was a player who felt aggrieved they didn’t win it during that time period, though, with former France international Franck Ribery believing something strange happened when it was revealed that Ronaldo and not Ribery was named the winner of the 2013 award. At Bayern Munich at the time, Ribery had been hugely influential for the German club on the left wing, winning a historic treble of the Bundesliga, German Cup, along with the Champions League.

Ribery was in line to win the 2013 Ballon d’Or

The former France international is still confused to why he didn’t

Speaking of his perceived injustice, Ribery told La Gazzetta dello Sport:

“It was unfair. It was an incredible season for me, and I should have won it. They extended the time for votes, and something strange happened. I felt that it was a political choice.”

The deadline for voting was set for 15 November 2013, but FIFA extended the contest until 29 November, saying that too many voters had failed to meet the original deadline.

The award is voted for by national team coaches and captains, plus journalists from each of FIFA’s member countries. Ribery had been the bookies’ tip to win the award, but the delay improved Ronaldo’s chances of winning the award for the second time. On 19 November, he scored a stunning hat trick for Portugal against Sweden in the play-off to reach the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Ribery had a supreme season in 2012/13, which led to a slew of individual awards, including French Player of the Year, and UEFA’s Best Player in Europe Award, for which Lionel Messi was very complimentary when he said: “It was an honour to be in this race again, and among the best three players in Europe […] He deserved to win the trophy”.

Such personal accolades all pointed to Ribery being named winner of the ultimate individual award, the Ballon d’Or. He added the European Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup to his 2013 honours when Bayern beat Chelsea on penalties in Prague and Raja Casablanca 2-0 in Morocco. Meanwhile, Ronaldo, who did score a very impressive 55 Real Madrid goals in the 2012/13 season, won no club honours for Real Madrid in 2013.

Ribery delivered in the big moments for Bayern in 2013

Ronaldo’s Real Madrid were knocked out in the Champions League semis by Borussia Dortmund

“I’m not sad, but it hurts the heart,” said Ribery. By winning in 2013, Ronaldo effectively became the first player to do so in the twenty-first century without winning honours for their club in the season they won it. Although it was Bayern’s Arjen Robben who was awarded man of the match in Bayern’s 2013 Champions League win over Dortmund at Wembley, Ribery was hugely influential that season, creating two goals in the Nou Camp in Bayern’s Champions League semi-final second leg 3-0 win over Barcelona, then back heeling into Robben’s path in the final minute of the final for the Dutchman to score the winner.

Ronaldo versus Franck Ribery over the 2012/13 season

Stat
Ronaldo
Ribery

Club appearances
55
43

Club goals
55
11

Club assists
13
23

Trophies
None
Bundesliga Title, German Cup, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup

Back then, the award looked at performance over a calendar year. It wasn’t just the hat-trick against Sweden that put Ronaldo in the frame, he scored two further hat tricks for Real Madrid in the same period, meaning it was three trebles in just 21 days. This no doubt caught the attention of some casting voters.

It was Pele who was presented on stage to open the envelope and name the winner of the 2013 Ballon d’Or, as the camera panned onto Messi, Ribery and Ronaldo, all looking pensive. When Pele called out the name of Cristiano Ronaldo, you could see the look of disappointment on Ribery’s face, even though he did his best to conceal it. On collecting the award, Ronaldo wept, but all these years on it is Ribery who is still emotional about it.