In an interview with the Spanish newspaper Marca, Ferre admitted he was once offered a bribe. "Yes, that's true. An agent wanted to meet me. His player was of course nominated. After explaining his merits to me and singing his praises, he asked me whether I could — in quotation marks — 'sell' his candidacy to the jury," he said.
For 30 years, Ferre served as editor-in-chief of France Football, but he rejected the offer. "I then had to leave the table briefly to take a call. When I returned, the agent had already disappeared. However, there was an envelope on the table. I took it and handed it in at reception. I don't know what was in it," he stressed.
He did not reveal which year the attempted bribe took place.
Special conversations with Luka Modric and Karim Benzema
Ferre also recalled two calls to winners that have stayed with him. First, he offered an insight into his conversation with Luka Modric, who won the Ballon d'Or in 2018. "I told him that he had won. Suddenly there was silence at the other end of the line. Then he cried and told me it was incredible."
By contrast, Karim Benzema's reaction in 2022 caught Ferre by surprise. "What surprised me was how coolly he reacted, as if it was not particularly important to him. A few days later, he apologised and explained to me what had happened. He said he had been lying on a treatment table and having a massage. He had wanted to scream but could not because he had been surrounded by his team-mates and knew that he had to keep the secret to himself."
IMAGOWho will win the Ballon d'Or this year?
This year, Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) and Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid) are among the favourites for the Ballon d'Or, which will be awarded on 26 October. The latter two have put themselves in the frame for the prize in recent weeks with questionable self-glorification.
Ferre criticised that approach recently. "The voters are not naive. They have both the experience and the judgement needed to assess and evaluate a player without having to hear ten or 15 times that he is the best," he told Le Parisien, adding: "When I say that the Ballon d'Or can be lost at the level of communication, I mean that a player is in the spotlight in an unpleasant way and gives voters the impression that they are being pushed towards a decision. This kind of fuss, which some people stage, can eventually irritate the voters. Because at that point the manipulation becomes quite obvious."