The sports magazine apologized to Andrés Iniesta for never giving him the title of 'Best Footballer in the World'. Fans in social networks demanded the same action towards Franck Ribéry

The editor in chief of France Football, Pascal Ferré, presented excuses to Andrés Iniesta, for never recognizing the talent of the soccer player with the delivery of a Ball of Gold; this by means of an editorial exposed in the last publication of the sports magazine.

Leer en español: ¿Diario France Football, para cuándo las disculpas a Franck Ribéry?

"Perdón, Andrés" (Sorry, Andrés) was the title with which Ferré excused himself with the FC Barcelona player, and in which he stated that "among the great absences in the list of winners, his is painful".

We must remember that, since 1956, the French magazine awards the soccer player who during the year showed a superlative level compared to the rest of his colleagues around the world.

Controversy in social networks

However, the apologies of the French journalist not only exalted the idyllic image of Iniesta, but ended up feeding and remembering a debate that since 2010 has been discussed. In that year, the Spanish national soccer team won the World Cup played in South Africa. The victory was obtained thanks to a goal by Iniesta minutes before the end of extra time, which also led to win the match.

For this reason and his great year with FC Barcelona, many fans asked to put the name of Andres above the rest of the players nominated to the FIFA Ballon d'Or, which since that year, and until 2015, took place alongside the prize of the best world player that FIFA offered.

However, the longed for trophy was in the hands of Lionel Messi, who had reached the Pichichi (top scorer in Spain) and the Golden Boot (top scorer in the major leagues of European football) with 34 goals.

Nevertheless, for many of Iniesta's supporters, as well as Messi's and Barcelona's own contradictors, the incredible World Cup that Andrés played in 2010, as well as his score in the final against the Netherlands, made him even more deserving of the title of "Best footballer "in said year.

And the apologies for Franck Ribéry?

The controversy does not stop there. The opinion piece published by France Football did not arrive at the best moment, in relation to the existing sports 'enmity' between Lionel Messi and his Real Madrid counterpart, Cristiano Ronaldo. Both players have five Gold Balls, as well as the admiration of an entire audience divided by the talent of the two players.

For this reason, the followers of the Argentine did not see with good eyes the words of Pascal Ferré, which they branded as "hypocrites and malicious", because, a lot of users in social networks considered that more than praising Iniesta, the French wanted to 'humiliate' the image of Messi.

As a result, fans of 'La Pulga' began to demand that in the same way that Ferré excused himself with Iniesta, he did so with Franck Ribéry. The reason? The Golden Ball that received Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013. According to several followers, the player who militates at Bayern Munich, should have received the award given to the Portuguese.

For the Golden Ball gala of 2013, Ribéry came as a favorite to win the trophy. The amazing season of the French with his club was so determined. Bayern Munich reached the Triplet of titles that consists of winning the National League (Bundesliga), National Cup, and Champions League in the same season; all this with an incredible performance of Ribéry at the service of the German team.

At the end, the trophy was raised by Cristiano Ronaldo for the second time in his career, after qualifying Portugal to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, with a hat-trick in the European play-off against Sweden.

The fact reached the same levels of nonconformity that the Golden Ball had in 2010, including the disagreement on the part of Ribéry himself, who, in an interview for Canal Football Club, acknowledged his anger at the final result.

"They stole the Golden Ball. It's incomprehensible. I won all the possible trophies, I could not have done more. It was an injustice", said the player for the French media.

In this way, the rivalry between Lionel Messi fans and those of Cristiano Ronaldo shows no sign of ending, at least until the players withdraw from professional football. Clear example of this, is the way in which an apology towards a player other than them ended up creating a controversy around those who are currently the best players in the world.

Latin American Post | Christopher Ramírez
Translated from "¿Diario France Football, para cuándo las disculpas a Franck Ribéry?"