According to daily newspaper Le Monde, members of the PSG Board of Directors tried to influence Mr. Pascal Ferre, former editor-in-chief of France Football magazine (the organizer of the Golden Ball award).
The accusation said that the leaders of the home team of the Parc des Princes tried to bribe Mr. Pascal Ferre in many different ways such as gifts, money, VIP tickets, and free Qatar business class flights. Airways… to lobby for Messi to win the 2021 Golden Ball award.
Club President Nasser Al Khelaifi and Pascal Ferre were even spotted having dinner together.
According to Le Monde, everything broke down when PSG’s former communications director Jean-Martial Ribes was indicted in December 2023 for corruption and market manipulation. After that, he opened up about PSG’s bribery case that helped Messi win the 2021 Golden Ball.
In a text message sent to President Nasser Al Khelaifi on September 18, 2021, Jean-Martial Ribes wrote: “We are going to lobby. So let’s have lunch with Pascal.”
It should be added that Messi winning the 2021 Golden Ball has created huge controversy. Many people think that Lewandowski deserves to win this title. In that year’s race, the two players competed fiercely. Messi received the award with 613 points, while Lewandowski received 580 points.
