Ronaldinho Gaúcho will deliver the Golden Ball, the most traditional individual football prize to the best elected player in the world by France Football magazine. The former Brazilian player is already in Paris for the ceremony of this Monday (22), which starts at 16h (Brasília), at the Châtelet Theater, in the French capital.
Ronaldinho’s role at the ceremony was confirmed by his staff to Sheet. Brazil competes with two players, Barcelona’s strikers Raphinha and Real Madrid Vinicius Jr.. Raphinha is considered the third favorite.
The two prize favorites are the strikers Ousmane Dembélé, 28, Frenchman from Paris Saint-Germain, and Lamine Yamal, 18, Barcelona Spanish. Since last year France Football has adopted confidentiality in relation to the name of the winner until the time of opening the envelope, in the manner of the Oscars.
Earlier, the winner was warned in advance by the magazine, to ensure the presence at the ceremony, which generated leaks to the press and emptied the event a little.
The award has been awarded since 1956 by the French magazine, by vote on a hundred specialized journalists, one from each country. It should not be confused with FIFA The Best, delivered at the turn of the year by the International Federation. Between 2010 and 2015 there was a fusion of the two awards, which to this day generates confusion in the public.
The presence of Ronaldinho Gaucho could be an indicator of the favoritism of one player or another, but not this time – the Brazilian was an idol of both PSG and Barcelona.
Interestingly, despite playing in a Paris team, Dembélé will only be present at the ceremony for being injured – in the same time of the event, PSG will be playing for the French League in Marseille, against local Olympique. The match should have occurred on Sunday, but was postponed due to a torrential rain that hit Southeast of France.
For this reason, much of the PSG delegation, including others nominees for the prize, such as Portuguese midfielder Vitinha, will not be at the Châtelet theater at night.
The PSG got annoyed with the French league decision to mark the game for the same time as the Golden Ball. He tried to reschedule the match for the afternoon of Monday, or even add it to December. But Olympique, Parisian’s biggest rival in French football, did not accept. The sports newspaper L’Iquipe, which belongs to the same group of France Football magazine, also complained about the decision in an article.
