And here to present the Ballon d’Or award to the world’s best women’s footballer, Spain’s Aitana Bonmati, please welcome to the stage… Novak Djokovic!?
Wait a minute.
Isn’t this a man who once said men’s tennis players deserved to be paid more than women’s tennis players? Yes, it is.
In 2016, after winning the Indian Wells Masters, Djokovic was asked about his views on equal pay and said men “should fight for more” and “be awarded more” because the stats showed higher attendances at men’s tennis matches.
Djokovic at this year’s Ballon d’Or award ceremony in Paris (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
An immediate backlash led to a speedy bit of backtracking via a Facebook apology post. For many, it felt too late. The power of his status meant the fuel of his comments had been poured on the already burning fire against equal pay — not for it.
“Women should fight for what they think they deserve and we should fight for what we think we deserve,” he had said in his initial answer.
The now-24-time Grand Slam winner also added: “I have tremendous respect for what women in global sport are doing and achieving. Their bodies are much different to men’s bodies. They have to go through a lot of different things that we don’t have to go through. You know, the hormones and different stuff, we don’t need to go into details.”
I think we do need to go into some of those details, Novak.
Alongside “the hormones”, there is sexism, misogyny and deep-rooted gender biases (be they conscious or unconscious). All have proved difficult to eradicate.
But Djokovic is not the problem. His name is, in fact, useful. He is a conduit for the problems women in football, and wider society, to be funnelled through.
Djokovic’s Ballon d’Or appearance has been the catalyst for this discussion — how another moment to celebrate and honour female excellence in football has been hijacked by an inept organisation.
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This article started by criticising who was chosen to present the award rather than praising Bonmati, the person and an extremely talented footballer, who eventually received it. I say ‘eventually’ because when the Barcelona and Spain midfielder was announced as the winner, there was no trophy to greet her.
The two-time Champions League winner arrived on stage and stood at the podium receiving the applause she deserves.
But Bonmati pulled one of the microphones towards her and placed her speech down on an empty glass ledge. The prize she had earned through years of commitment and competitiveness was nowhere to be found.
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After a few awkward seconds passed, a man appeared from backstage with the golden ball like it was something on the stove you forgot to bring to the dinner table halfway through your meal. The iconic trophy is hard to miss, having arrived in style — complete with a bespoke, handcrafted Louis Vuitton travel case — at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.
Bonmati with the women’s Ballon d’Or award (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
They did not forget to have Lionel Messi’s trophy waiting for him.
David Beckham, who presented the Argentinian with his latest award, was a selection that made sense. Not just because Beckham is one of football’s most famous faces but for his personal connection to Messi, as Inter Miami co-owner.
In a city that is home to some of the greatest artwork ever created, this crowd painted its own picture. The lack of women in the room and, in particular, the absence of women nominees were notable.
Only seven of the 30 women players nominated were present. The reason for this is something fans of women’s football will already be familiar with; fixture clashes. This was just another day when men’s football took precedence as the award ceremony once again took place during the women’s international break. England manager Sarina Wiegman led the messages of frustration for the disregard it showed.
There was limited female presence at the ceremony (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
When Messi’s moment arrived, it was rapturous and pre-rehearsed. For Bonmati, it was a different story — and in more ways than having a famous male athlete from a completely different sport presenting the award.
That is something we should still be grappling with. It would have made sense if Brazilian footballing trailblazer Marta had walked out on stage. If the organisers were committed to going down the celebrity tennis player route, then where were Serena Williams or Billie Jean King’s invitations? Had either of those icons presented the award, we would not be having this conversation.
Had Marta been there, I could have been using this space to praise another one of her scintillating speeches in a room filled with some — and, quite clearly, not all — of the most influential and esteemed footballers.
Marta announced her retirement from international football following this year’s World Cup (Alex Pantling – FIFA via Getty Images)
As someone who has always lowered the ladder for the next generation, Marta would have made sure she was handing over the trophy to Bonmati. Perhaps it would be a trophy she would have won herself had women been included in the awards before 2018.
But the issues don’t stop there — there is no women’s Yashin Trophy equivalent for the best goalkeeper. There is no equivalent Kopa Trophy, awarded to the best player under the age of 21.
What Djokovic walking out onto that stage has given us is another pair of theatre binoculars to pass around. The grip on them is fading. We have stared through their lenses far too many times and the view is almost always some version of the same. It reveals to us an unequal game.
And if this is the highest level of the sport, with those in the upper circle able to see it even without those binoculars, then what is happening in the outer circle?
(Top photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
