According to the daily Le Monde, members of the PSG Board of Directors tried to influence Mr. Pascal Ferre, former editor-in-chief of France Football magazine (the organizer of the Golden Ball award).
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| Messi's 2021 Ballon d'Or award has caused controversy. (Source: France Football) |
The accusation said that the leaders of the Parc des Princes team tried to bribe Mr. Pascal Ferre in many different ways such as gifts, money, VIP tickets, free business class flights of Qatar Airways... to lobby for Messi to win the 2021 Ballon d'Or.
Even club president Nasser Al Khelaifi and Pascal Ferre were spotted having dinner together privately.
According to Le Monde, everything broke out when former PSG communications director Jean-Martial Ribes was indicted in December 2023 for corruption and market manipulation. He then revealed PSG's bribery to help Messi win the 2021 Ballon d'Or.
In a text message to President Nasser Al Khelaifi on September 18, 2021, Jean-Martial Ribes wrote: "We are going to lobby. So let's have lunch with Pascal."
It should be added that Messi's winning of the 2021 Ballon d'Or has created a lot of controversy. Many people think that Lewandowski deserves to win this title.
In that year's race, the two players competed fiercely. Messi won the award with 613 points, while Lewandowski received 580 points.
(according to Dan Tri)
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