Arrogant self-congratulation at the Ballon d'Or: embarrassing campaigns should not be rewarded

Those really were different times, 25 years ago. In 2001, 21-year-old Michael Owen won the Ballon d'Or, the most prestigious and significant individual award in world football. Before that, the forward had won the UEFA Cup, the FA Cup and the English League Cup with Liverpool, scoring 24 goals along the way.

"I had absolutely no idea what it was. Back then, it wasn't an issue in the press at all," Owen revealed last year. He said the then Reds manager told him over the phone that he had won it. "When Gerard Houllier called me and told me I'd won the Ballon d'Or, I asked: What is that, coach?"

I don't want to stubbornly claim those are the days I want back. I've hardly ever been able to get excited about the Ballon d'Or, but of course it's perfectly fine that its importance has risen noticeably in recent years, both among players and in the public eye.

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Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe before the Ballon d'Or: questionable self-glorification

What I do find highly embarrassing, inappropriate and arrogant is the questionable self-glorification of the potential winners among the 30 nominees. Their clubs only make it worse, seizing every opportunity to praise their player to the skies or even openly declare that he deserves it more than the competition.

"Why shouldn't we campaign for him?" Barcelona manager Hansi Flick asked recently in reference to his protégé Lamine Yamal, one of the favourites to win at this year's ceremony on 26 October in London. My answer: because it has nothing to do with humility or being a role model. Because, as countless coaches around the world always emphasise, the truth lies on the pitch and there is no need for transparent statements designed to elevate your own player above others. And because it is simply unlikeable.

Then there's 18-year-old Yamal, who recently sat down and claimed: "To be honest: I think I deserve this award this year - because of what I have won." Just as arrogant is the way Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe describes himself as "the Chosen One" and says that "no player was better than me last season". Just imagine someone in youth team football speaking about himself like that.

Ballon d'Or: the past ten winners

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Campaigns before the Ballon d'Or award: Jose Mourinho exposes himself

Granted, these targeted campaigns ahead of the award ceremony are nothing new. This year, in a sport where the importance of the collective is always rightly emphasised, they may have taken on an extra layer of ostentatious egoism. Back in 2013, for example, Real assembled Alfredo Di Stefano, Emilio Butragueno, Carlo Ancelotti, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos to campaign heavily for Cristiano Ronaldo in the race against Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery, and unfortunately, in my view, it worked.

Two years ago, Los Blancos even caused a scandal when they abruptly cancelled their trip to Paris and boycotted the ceremony. It had previously leaked out that Rodri, and not Vinicius Junior, will win. Instead, they issued the following statement: "If the criteria for the award do not declare Vinicius the winner, then those same criteria should declare Carvajal the winner. Since that was not the case, it is obvious that the Ballon d'Or and UEFA do not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid are not where they are not respected."

Only recently, current Real coach Jose Mourinho laid bare the whole political madness behind the Ballon d'Or and exposed himself in the process. In 2012, the Portuguese still claimed: "How can you win the Ballon d'Or without winning titles, without winning anything significant? Don't come to me with the Club World Cup or the Super Cup - those are trivialities. Tell me about the big titles." A few weeks ago, he then said: "You cannot give the Ballon d'Or to a player just because he won the Champions League or the World Cup. The best player in the world are two, three or four, and we know who they are and where they are. We know who made history individually this summer."

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Ballon d'Or: the need for recognition and hubris should not be rewarded

Of course Mbappe has "arguments for winning the Ballon d'Or", as he said. Of course, for such exceptional players, chasing this trophy may be, and perhaps even must be, an individual goal. But they could never win it without their team-mates, even if some of them may be less talented than they are.

That obvious self-importance, the need for recognition and the hubris of blasé professionals and clubs, who with such behaviour also help drag modern football ever further away from the grassroots, should not be rewarded.

One final point: I could not care less who wins the Ballon d'Or in 2026. The fact, however, that Harry Kane, a strong contender for the award, allegedly made a conscious decision not to campaign on his own behalf ahead of the ceremony makes me hope that precisely that kind of behaviour is honoured.

Ballon d'Or 2026: the 30-man shortlist