Arsenal star rips into Ballon d’Or organisers amid Novak Djokovic criticism and schedule issue
Aitana Bonmati won the women’s Ballon d’Or on Monday night after a superb season for both Spain and Barcelona - but a number of nominees did not attend as the ceremony fell during an international window
Novak Djokovic handed Aitana Bonmatí the award on Monday night
Arsenal star and Scotland legend Jen Beattie has slammed the organisation of Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony calling on those involved to “do better.”
Spain’s Aitana Bonmati claimed the women’s prize - officially known as the Ballon d’Or Feminin - for the first time, holding off competition from the likes of Chelsea’s Aussie star Sam Kerr and her Barcelona team-mate, teenager Salma Paralluelo.
But the awards ceremony, which also saw Lionel Messi claim the men’s award, has drawn criticism for its scheduling. The presentation in Paris took place in the middle of a women’s international break, with UEFA Nations League fixtures taking place on Tuesday. This led to four England stars, nominated for the big prize, not attending the ceremony.
Mary Earps, who finished fifth in the final vote, Millie Bright, Rachel Daly and Georgia Stanway instead chose to focus on preparing for Tuesday’s Nations League game with Belgium. Eventual winner Bonmati did attend, but there was further criticism on social media when she wasn’t immediately handed her award on stage as is customarily the case.
Instead the Spanish star was left standing awkwardly for a few seconds before the trophy was eventually brought on. And Scotland and Arsenal star Beattie criticised the glitzy ceremony on X, formerly known as twitter, questioning the scheduling.
Beattie wrote: “Beyond disappointing that the Ballon d’Or was held during a women’s international break making it pretty impossible for most of the nominees to even attend. Do better!”
There were also plenty of people on social media questioning the decision to involve male tennis star Novak Djokovic in presenting the award. Djokovic played a key role in the ceremony, announcing Bonmati as the winner.
Barcelona’s Spanish midfielder Aitana Bonmati receives the Women’s Ballon d’Or award (
Image:
Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP) (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
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But many found it odd that the World No.1 was so heavily involved as opposed to someone from the women’s game, something that Beattie seemed to agree with.
The Gunners defender then reposted an initial comment shared by Arsenal Women Correspondent Tim Stillman, which read: “Nothing says ‘celebrate the achievement of female athletes’ like inviting a male athlete who advocated against equal pay to talk about himself and the completely different sport he plays,” in reference to Djokovic’s involvement.
This year is not the first time senior figures within the women’s game have criticised the Ballon d’Or organisers handling of their women’s award. Beattie’s Arsenal team-mate Beth Mead, who finished in second place last year, later criticised the ceremony, saying the women’s gong felt like a “tick box” event.
“I thought the Ballon d’Or was a token Ballon d’Or for women’s football and that’s all it was,” she later said. “The setup wasn’t great. Alexia (Putellas, the winner) went up, they asked her a couple of questions and off she went.
“They did three or four awards between the female Ballon d’Or and the men’s Ballon d’Or. In between that they did (Robert) Lewandowski top scorer, goalkeeper of the year, no female goalkeeper of the year, and a community award.
“Then at the end it was (Karim) Benzema who won. His full family was on stage taking pictures with him, all the journalists, and Alexia was sat on the front seat as if she wasn’t even there.
“(The Ballon d’Or) is such a prestigious award. But then it was a tick box to have women there but they weren’t doing it right. The FIFA Best, they did everything aligned. They did it all together so it was so much better.”
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