adminJOHANNESBURG. – A former African international has sensationally claimed that his Ballon d’Or vote was once changed to Lionel Messi without his knowledge.
Juvenal Edjogo, the ex-captain of the Equatorial Guinea national team, has caused a major stir by claiming that the 2013 Ballon d’Or prize may have been awarded to the wrong player.
Edjogo was eligible to vote for the 2013 prize as he was captain of his national team at the time.
He has now insisted that he voted for Didier Drogba and Andres Iniesta at the time, but when the voting was made public, those picks had changed to that of Messi and his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
“What little I can say about this type of award is that in 2013, I voted for my three players for the Ballon d’Or, and I sent my votes, and in the end when it was made public, the list of who voted for who, my votes were different,” Juvenal told Gol Play.
“It said I voted for Messi, Cristiano, and I don’t know who else, but I didn’t vote for any of them.
“That’s why I say, I don’t believe in absolutely anything about those awards.
“Since then, I’ve thought these awards have no value.”
Ronaldo went on to win the Golden Ball that year, with Messi coming second and Franck Ribery third. – KickOff
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter