Platini: Maybe FIFA tried to please Ronaldo
UEFA president Michel Platini in an interview with AS.com joked that FIFA deliberately extended the voting on the 2013 Ballon d’Or award to give Cristiano Ronaldo a
better chance of winning.
The deadline for the voting was November 15 but FIFA that the date have been pushed back just as the final World Cup qualifying playoff second legs were taking place.
This has allowed voters to consider Cristiano Ronaldo as a strong contender after he scored a fantastic hat-trick to send Portugal through to the Brazil 2014 World Cup.
“It is a FIFA decision which coincided with the Portugal playoff for the World Cup in Brazil, with Cristiano’s three goals in the game against Sweden,” Platini said with a smile.
Laughing, he added: “It could be that FIFA did it to please Cristiano…”
Ribery, who won the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League with Bayern last season, told Canal Plus that pushing back the closing date for voting had been unfortunate, although it did not particularly bother him.
“It did not annoy me,” Ribery said. “But it is a pity that this happened in the year when I was in the race. The Ballon d’Or is a dream, but in any case I have done what I had to do on the pitch and off it.”
The deadline for the voting was November 15 but FIFA that the date have been pushed back just as the final World Cup qualifying playoff second legs were taking place.
This has allowed voters to consider Cristiano Ronaldo as a strong contender after he scored a fantastic hat-trick to send Portugal through to the Brazil 2014 World Cup.
“It is a FIFA decision which coincided with the Portugal playoff for the World Cup in Brazil, with Cristiano’s three goals in the game against Sweden,” Platini said with a smile.
Laughing, he added: “It could be that FIFA did it to please Cristiano…”
Ribery, who won the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League with Bayern last season, told Canal Plus that pushing back the closing date for voting had been unfortunate, although it did not particularly bother him.
“It did not annoy me,” Ribery said. “But it is a pity that this happened in the year when I was in the race. The Ballon d’Or is a dream, but in any case I have done what I had to do on the pitch and off it.”
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