Pascal Ferré knows who will win the Ballon d’Or on Monday, but he has no intention of telling. There are only two people in the world who know about one of the best kept football secrets in the world: the editor-in-chief of France Football, the magazine that presents the award for the best football player in the world, and his assistant. Just in case something happens to Ferré. “Suppose I had an accident. Then the Ballon d’Or still has to be awarded,” says the journalist in The New York Times.
“It is the sixth year that I am responsible for this. I haven’t made a single mistake so far.” Ferré says he will be called by numerous directors, agents and even the world’s best football players as soon as the date comes in sight. All with the same goal. But his lips remain closed. “I don’t want to lie. But I tell them I can’t tell the name because the winners themselves don’t even know it yet. And that it wouldn’t be fair to find out like that.”
Ferré will only inform the winners of the various trophies a few days in advance, to make sure they know how the ceremony will go. That’s when the secret slips out of the Frenchman’s hands. “There’s something paranoic about it.” The winner of the Ballon d’Or is determined by a vote. France Football first compiles a shortlist of 30 players. “With the men, 20 to 22 players will be obvious to everyone. We discuss the remaining 8 to 10 players. The meetings can last two to three hours because we want everyone to be proud of the list. It’s not the boss’s list. And we don’t want to forget anyone. Together we watch a thousand matches or more a year. It’s serious business if you’re on that list.”
A selection of journalists – one from each FIFA football country – then decides the winner together with the national coaches and captains of national teams. The journalists, players and national coaches are asked to choose a top five from the thirty names of the shortlist, based on a person’s individual and collective performance over the past year, quality of the player and taking into account the player’s career. The number one panelist receives six points, the number two five points, and so on. Finally, an overall ranking will follow. This is all done through a so-called private email server. In fact, it is so secret that Ferré does not want to give any information about it. Even employees of France Football don’t get anything. Just the editor-in-chief and his assistant.
“We are very careful. The winner of the Ballon d’Or is a big secret. I don’t think there is a comparable situation in sports.” The trophy means a lot of football players. “Luka Modric cried like a child when I called him,” he assures of the conversation with the Real Madrid midfielder in 2018. “It’s like Christmas for them. It’s the only chance in a team sport to be able to celebrate something yourself.” It also creates rivalry. For example, between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the trophy six and five times respectively. “Ronaldo has only one ambition and that is to end his career with more Ballon d’Ors than Messi. And I know that because he told me that.”
The Ballon d’Or is the ultimate for almost every footballer. “It has nothing to do with money. It’s a trophy. If you have that, you have a place in history. Look at the stats of Messi and Ronaldo. They always score a lot in September and October, when they know that there is a vote. That is no coincidence.” Messi is expected to win the Ballon d’Or on Monday. In 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019, the attacker of Paris Saint-Germain and the Argentina national team also won the Ballon d’Or. The prize was not awarded in 2020 due to the corona crisis.