An investigation is underway in France into possible fraud by Paris Saint-Germain in the 2021 Ballon d'Or election, it writes Le Monde. The honorary prize was won by Lionel Messi, but the Argentinian may have to relinquish his title.

According to an ongoing investigation, Paris Saint-Germain lobbied for Messi to receive the trophy, the newspaper said. The main character in the case seems to be Pascal Ferré, then editor-in-chief of the magazine responsible for organizing the Ballon d'Or.

The investigation originally focused on possible tax evasion in Neymar's 2017 transfer to PSG. The club is said to have received help from the French Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin.

Qatari President Nasser Al-Khelaïfi was also investigated. That investigation resulted in the indictment of six key players, including communications director Jean-Martial Ribes.

Ribes, who was charged with 'corruption and influence peddling' on December 1 last year, is said to have explicitly lobbied for Messi to receive the Golden Ball. For example, he arranged match tickets for Ferré and paid for travel and accommodation to the World Cup for club teams in Qatar.

Lewandowski
Messi's Golden Ball win was not entirely without controversy, as Robert Lewandowski scored a record number of goals for Bayern Munich that year: 58. Messi, on the other hand, had a difficult start at PSG.

That year, Lewandowski was awarded the Gerd Müller Trophy for the best striker of the year. That prize was awarded for the first time at the time. Bayern icon Lothar Matthäus, among others, expressed his disbelief that the award went to Messi and not to Lewandowski.

“I no longer understand the world after this election. With all due respect to Messi and the other nominees, but the only one who deserves the award is Lewandowski,” Matthäus said in German media.

It was Messi's seventh time being crowned world footballer of the year. The counter now stands at eight Golden Balls, as he won the most recent election. Cristiano Ronaldo follows with five titles.

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