Mbappé lost by 28 points and three journalists gave him zero
Ukraine, Greece and Scotland left the Frenchman out of their top ten. Their votes open an uncomfortable debate about the judgment of those who decide the award.
Kylian Mbappé finished 28 points short of the Ballon d'Or. For three of the hundred journalists who voted, however, the Frenchman was not even among the ten best players of the season.
The zeros came from the representatives of Ukraine, Greece and Scotland. Harry Kane finished with 1,055 points; Mbappé with 1,027. In a race this close, those omissions inevitably carry weight.
Leaving him out means picking ten individual seasons over his. That is a decision that calls for reasons: what they valued in those players and what the Frenchman lacked to earn even a single point.
The zeros don't explain the whole defeat
But turning those three jurors into the culprits skips a step. Three tenth-place votes would have added just three points. To change the result he needed higher placings, and changing the ballots could also have moved Kane's total.
There is also a detail that complicates the story: Mexico and Ivory Coast did not include the Englishman either. The winner got zeros too.
The winner got zeros too.
The real issue is judgment
That brings the debate back to where it can be useful: the quality of the decisions. The award prioritizes individual performance, then collective achievements and, finally, class and fair play. Every journalist should be able to explain how they applied those criteria.
A country's football tradition is no test of journalism. A national team's titles do not guarantee that its representative will analyze a season better. And without evidence of a political motive, the accusation of “historic envy” remains speculation.
The ballots already show what each juror chose. Adding a brief sporting explanation would help explain why. It would also be reasonable to know more clearly how voters are selected and evaluated.
If a player is required to have an extraordinary season to win the Ballon d'Or, the people voting should be required to do more than hand in ten names.
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