A number of fans have rubbished speculation that the winner of the Ballon d’Or has been leaked after a sheet displaying ‘top 26 players in the world’ went viral on social media
Video Unavailable
Can N’Golo Kante win a Ballon D’or?
Plenty of football fans have claimed that a leaked sheet showing the ‘winner’ of the 2021 Ballon d’Or is fake after it started to do the rounds online.
The leaked image shows what would be an upset in terms of the winner, as Paris Saint-Germain superstar Lionel Messi misses out on top-spot to Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski.
The picture was uploaded to twitter and has divided opinion over its authenticity, as many begin to speculate over whether the list’s rankings are a fair assessment of the last year of club football.
Since its upload, the screenshot of the leaked list has amassed thousands of likes and retweets, as well as comments from the more sceptical fans pointing out the tell-tale signs that suggest it is fake.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Is the leaked Ballon d’Or list real? Comment below.
One eagle-eyed user wrote: “Fake list Azpi [Cesar Azpilicueta] is mentioned twice and if the list had legitimacy the Ballon D Or odds would change on the betting websites.”
Another user referenced how ‘leaked’ Ballon d’Or lists are commonplace in the run up to the ceremony, citing an example from 2019 where the leaked list did not correspond with the eventual real results.
“Before anyone gets carried away with Ballon D’Or leaks, this list was “leaked” a week before 2019 Ballon D’Or and it was wrong even though they guessed the right winner, all the points were wrong and Ronaldo got 3rd place over Salah.”
A twitter user provided followers with quite the clear breakdown as to why the list is fake, writing: “It is false -The scores of some players (Neymar, Bruno, Lukaku, etc) are blank -Azpilicueta’s name is repeated two times -There are misspelled names (KeWin De Bruyne, RomelO Lukaku).”
Poland international Lewandowski was tipped by many as the favourite to win the 2020 Ballon d’Or after breaking the Bundesliga goal record.
However, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the award was suspended for a year by organisers France Football, who claimed: “We did not want to put an indelible asterisk on the prize list as ‘a trophy won in exceptional circumstances due to the health crisis of Covid-19’.
Who is the best manager in world football? Cast your vote below
“Protecting the credibility and legitimacy of such a prize also means guaranteeing its irreproachability over time.”
The Bayern Munich star’s form has been just as stunning this term, notching 17 goals in 13 goals so far.
The alleged document from France Football – dated October 25, shows he has allegedly landed 627 points from the 176 voting nations.
(
Image:
Getty Images)
While the overall points tally of six-time winner Messi is hidden in the leaked image, it does show he finishes in second-place – mainly from his form at Barcelona, given he is yet to find the net in Ligue 1.
Messi did bag 38 goals in 47 games during his final campaign at the Camp Nou.
Frenchman Karim Benzema makes up the rumoured top three after registering 19 goal contributions in just 12 games for Real Madrid this term.
