Back in 2021, Lionel Messi collected his seventh Ballon d’Or, having won the voting to be crowned as the winner of the iconic France Football award. However, that achievement has now been called into question, with the finger being pointed at then-club Paris Saint-Germain.
According to reports from Le Monde and Mediaport (via Diario AS), PSG are accused of lobbying for Messi to win the award that year. Specifically, the French champions are alleged to have strengthened ties and relations with Pascal Ferre, who was the president of France Football at the time of Messi’s seventh Ballon d’Or triumph.
Le Monde have claimed that Ferre, who was appointed as PSG’s new communications member in 2023, received tickets for club matches, including one behind closed doors fixture against Borussia Dortmund back in 2020. Also, a business class flight on Qatar Airways paid for by the Qatari government for an estimated amount of €8,986 in March 2021.
It is alleged that this allowed PSG to lobby for the Barcelona legend to win the Ballon d’Or in 2021, ahead of Robert Lewandowski most notably. For now, the matter remains open, but Ferre has denied these allegations.