The French newspaper Le Monde reported that Paris Saint-Germain put a lot of pressure on France Football to award Lionel Messi the 2021 Ballon d'Or.
This year, the flea was competing with Robert Lewandowski, who seemed superior to him in terms of individual and group performance, but in the end the votes decided the award in favor of Messi.
According to the newspaper, the PSG administration lavished gifts and benefits on the then editor-in-chief of France Football, Pascal Ferry, in order to help Messi achieve the award.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi's management aimed for Messi to win the award as a Paris Saint-Germain player, which would benefit the club from various marketing and sporting angles.
At the same time, the Daily Mail newspaper reported that Paris Saint-Germain denied these charges and stressed that what the French newspaper reported was completely false.
It remains unknown whether the French prosecution will investigate this incident or not.
Lewandowski had expressed his anger at losing the title that year, which sparked crises between him and Messi that were reflected in their confrontations in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
It is noteworthy that Karim Benzema was crowned with the Ballon d'Or in 2022, before Messi returned and won the title in 2023 after leading Argentina to the World Cup title, for the eighth time in its history.
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