Ballon d’Or 2018: A New Era of Soccer Awaits?
Luka Modrić and Ada Hegerberg were this year’s winners of the Ballon d’Or, an award honoring the best soccer player over the course of that year. Luka Modrić finished the year having captained his country to the World Cup final and winning the Champions League with his club, as well as a World Cup Golden Ball award, and a UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award. On the other hand, Ada Hegerberg scored 53 goals in all competitions and led her team to a third successive Women’s Champions League title where she scored a record 15 goals in the cup competition (UEFA). Both players received this award for the first time in their careers. The award rankings are based on the votes of professional football journalists. The annual award ceremony occurred on December 6 in Paris and was watched across the world.
Luka Modrić’s win instantly became headline news because it was the first time in 11 years that a midfielder had won the Ballon d’Or, ending Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s 11-year dominance of the award. However, the idea of Modrić winning the Ballon d’Or this year was not surprising. “I wasn’t surprised. It was quite apparent that he was going to win the Ballon d’Or after [the] World Cup. I think he deserved it, to be honest,” said Inque Park (12B). Though many football fans were satisfied with the Croatian midfielder’s win, people around the world were infuriated with the subsequent player rankings. Specifically, they were dumbfounded by Messi’s 5th place ranking. However, Inque was indifferent to final results, explaining, “Different players play in different leagues [and] they participate in different games. There’s going to be controversy no matter what; this isn’t the first time, and this won’t be the last time. It just happens, you can’t satisfy everyone.”
The capture of the Women’s Ballon d’Or trophy by Ada Hegerberg made arguably even bigger news because she became the first female player to ever win the trophy. Starting from this year, UEFA is allowing female players to compete and win the coveted trophy, giving them the same recognition as their male counterparts. Despite this major change, Inque wasn’t very optimistic of the award’s new format, stating, “I don’t think it’s going to help in any way in terms of making female football players more famous. It has a good purpose, to [acknowledge] female football players out there, but I don’t think this is going to bring any changes.” Inque’s comment seems to be supported by a controversial incident during the award ceremony. After Hegerberg received her award, the event’s host and DJ Martin Solveig asked her an inappropriate question (Washington Post). “It was a stupid comment. It was [rude], [and] I don’t see the purpose behind it…” remarked Inque.
Despite this year’s supposed controversial rankings and disrespectful comment to Hegerberg, this year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony is still groundbreaking for recognizing female players and putting an end to Messi and Ronaldo’s dominant reign of Ballon d’Or awards. From this year’s victors, football fans can be hopeful of greater representation and respect for female players.
Featured Image – Ada Hegerberg (left) and Luka Modrić (mid) posing with their Ballon d’Or awards Courtesy of AS English