Ballon d’Or 2013: When Franck Ribery felt 'robbed' as Cristiano Ronaldo won award after vote controversy
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Published 13/10/2022 at 09:45 GMT
Franck Ribery was widely expected to win the 2013 Ballon d’Or, only to lose out to Cristiano Ronaldo. Lionel Messi also finished ahead of the then-Bayern Munich star, with claims that the voting process was “unfair”. Ribery never won the award and still feels aggrieved nine years on. It remains the most controversial Ballon d’Or in the history of the award.
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The 2013 Ballon d’Or will go down as one of the most controversial years in the award’s history as Franck Ribery was “robbed”.
Cristiano Ronaldo won his second Ballon d’Or, five years on from his first title, with Lionel Messi finishing as the runner-up and Ribery in third.
Ronaldo won 27.99 per cent of the vote, Messi 24.72 and Ribery 23.36.
At the time, Ribery was widely tipped to win the award after he led Bayern Munich to a historic treble, winning the Bundesliga, Champions League and DFB-Pokal.
He provided the assist to Arjen Robben, who scored the match-winning goal in the Champions League final as well as scoring 34 goals in all competitions.
The winger won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award, before scoring in the Super Cup as Bayern Munich beat Chelsea.
In comparison, Ronaldo won no silverware with Real Madrid that season, although he did score a remarkable 66 goals from 56 games.
However, Ribery was a different player to Ronaldo back then as the Portuguese international’s job was to score goals. On the other hand, Ribery was a creative player and tested the world’s best full-backs down the flanks.
Ballon d’Or 2013 voting controversy
The deadline for the vote in 2013 was originally November 15, but it was extended for the first time in the competition’s history by two weeks due to a lack of “eligible voters”.
UEFA president Michel Platini joked that FIFA did it “to please” Ronaldo.
In this period, Ronaldo scored a spectacular hat-trick which secured qualification for Portugal to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Why was it claimed that the 2013 Ballon d’Or was rigged?
After the awards, coaches from Bolivia, Albania, Equatorial Guinea, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Kuwait and Vanuatu alleged that the voting was rigged.
Coaches would rank their top-three players with their first place player getting five points, second place three points and third place one point.
"I think there has been a fraud here,” said Kuwait manager Jorvan Vieira. “I voted for [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic." FIFA’s official records state he voted for Messi, Neymar and Ronaldo.
Albania manager Gianni De Biasi claimed: "I gave five points to Ronaldo, three to Messi and one to Ibrahimovic. I did not give five to Ibrahimovic," De Biasi said. "This is b******t and lies."
There were also allegations that some coaches were forced to vote for Ronaldo.
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Franck Ribery of US Salernitana 1919 looks on during the Serie A match between US Salernitana 1919 and Udinese Calcio on May 22, 2022 in Salerno, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Image credit: Getty Images
Ribery still angered by Ballon d’Or loss
Nine years on from the controversy, Ribery admits he is still aggrieved by what took place.
“It was unfair," Ribery told La Gazzetta dello Sport earlier this year. "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."
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