Did they buy Messi the Ballon d’Or? His triumph may have been rigged, an investigation is already underway

For 2020, the prestigious award was not awarded due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Polish striker is also associated with results a year later.

European media speculate that the poll may have been manipulated in favor of Lionel Messi.

The Polish representative gave an interview to the newspaper Bild, the topic of which was also the summers of 2020 and 2021, when he was a big favorite to win the Ballon d’Or. However, he has not won the prestigious trophy even once.

“Those were the best years of my career. A friend recently sent me the statistics, according to which I scored 100 goals in 85 games,” the 35-year-old native of Warsaw told the German newspaper.

There was a possibility that he could win the prestigious award retroactively. In 2020, he was Bundesliga champion with Bayern Munich, won the Champions League and the German Cup. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, France Football decided not to award the Ballon d’Or.

A year later, he was surprisingly acquired by Messi, at that time a player for Paris Saint-Germain. However, the victory of the star Argentine, who did not shine at the time, is now being reviewed. There are suspicions of vote-buying and manipulation.

French newspaper Le Monde reported that the then editor-in-chief of France Football accepted a bribe from PSG to influence the vote in favor of their player.

Messi is the poll’s record holder with eight Golden Balls, but some of his victories, and not only in 2021, are embarrassing to say the least.

“I would very much like to win the Ballon d’Or one day. I’m not angry or sad that I’m missing this trophy, but I feel that in one of those years it was my turn,” said Lewandowski.

“The award for 2021 goes to Lionel Messi, but I heard there is talk of going back for 2020. He was special to me, I was at the highest level, I won everything. If I got the Ballon d’Or four years later, I would definitely he was not offended. It would be a great honor for me and I would accept the award,” the Polish sniper told Bild.