Bayern Munich star Franck Ribery has blasted the voting system for the FIFA Ballon d’Or and claimed that he was more deserving of the award than winner Cristiano Ronaldo because he won five trophies in 2013, while the Real Madrid star did not win any.
The Frenchman appeared to accept coming third behind winner Ronaldo and second-placed Lionel Messi at the award ceremony in Zurich last Monday, even claiming that individual awards were not important to him.
But his frustration appears to have got the better of him since then and he has come out all guns blazing in a powerful interview with AZ.
‘I won everything I could win with Bayern and individually. Ronaldo, on the other hand, did not win anything. I am not sad that I missed out, but it does hurt a bit. I deserved to win the Ballon d’Or’
Ribery claimed the Bundesliga title, the German cup, the Champions League, the European Super Cup and Club World Cup with Bayern during 2013.
The France star even appeared to suggest changes were made in this year’s voting system to help Ronaldo’s cause, by extending the deadline at the same time the Portugal star had almost single-handedly seen off Sweden in a World Cup play-off.
‘It was clear that Ronaldo would win it. The voting deadline was extended by two weeks. This had never happened before. It wasn’t about football. It was a political decision.’
His frustrations didn’t end there as he also criticised the FIFPro World XI – FIFA’s team of the year – for only having three Bundesliga stars in it, despite the 2013 Champions League final being contested by Bayern and Borussia Dortmund.
Written by Steve Milne
