The Ballon d'Or awards the best player of each season, but it has not been without controversy since the French magazine France Football created the prestigious award in 1956. Many fans doubt the criteria when submitting them, since both individual performance and at the club and national team level are valued, factors that have resulted in very controversial decisions over the years.
The edition of 2023 It is giving a lot of talk in that regard because both Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi have stood out in all the criteria. There are those who value more the number of goals and the Champions League, the biggest European title at club level, and believes that Haaland, which is once again the favorite to repeat both achievements according to football betting, should be the undisputed winner. On the other hand, There are those who claim that the World Cup won by Messi as the best player of the tournament, best player in 5 matches, including the final, and Silver Boot is well above the Norwegian's season.
Whoever wins, this edition will bring tail and, that's why, We take this opportunity to remember one of the most controversial Ballon d'Or editions in history.
Ruud Gullit vs Paulo Futre (1987)
Editing 1987 awarded the award to Ruud Gullit with a score of 107 points and the Silver Ball to Paulo Futre with 91. Of course, Gullit is a football legend and won everything in a career in which he led Milan to the top with multiple league titles and Champions, in addition to a European Championship with the Netherlands.
But nevertheless, Gullit signed for Milan ahead of the season 1987/88, Therefore, only their 28 goals in 37 matches and the Eredivise title obtained with PSV. In the meantime, Futre made history by winning the Champions with Porto against all odds and many compared him to Maradona himself. further, He scored in the second round and in the semifinals before having the best game of his career in the final.
Leaving aside personal preferences regarding the weight of each factor when awarding the trophy, Many fans think that the award went to Gullit because he had signed for Milan and the winner had to be a player from the Italian Serie A.. In fact, Today, Futre continues to defend that Berlusconi pushed for Gullit to win the Ballon d'Or, while the Dutch legend has refused to make any statement on the matter since then. Many fans completely agree with Futre, since the majority of winners during the 80 They played in the Italian Serie A.
evidently, Gullit's numbers far exceeded Futre's, but football is a team sport and many players are essential when it comes to creating scoring chances or avoiding them., another of the great criticisms of an award that, except in rare exceptions, has ignored defensive players and goalkeepers.
