The best kept secret that was revealed hours before the Ballon d’Or gala by the Madrid team

The best kept secret that was revealed hours before the Ballon d’Or gala by the Madrid team
The best kept secret that was revealed hours before the Ballon d’Or gala by the Madrid team

The man who knew too much. Or rather, the only man who knew what this was about, who the winner of the Ballon d’Or. Ben McKenna (James Stewart) is Vincent Garcia, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper The Team who since this year has been in charge of organizing the event and who was the only one who received the journalists’ votes and who assures his intimates that he has kept the result safe until now. The objective was for the candidates for the best player in the world from last season to sit in the Teatro Châtelet de without knowing who the winner was. However, everything went to waste today and he did not achieve his goal for a few hours. Madrid found out this morning that they did not win Viniciuswhich confirms that somewhere such a precious exclusive for any sports journalist escaped, and on the other that the clubs that had players aspiring to lift the trophy were traveling a bit blind, this time without knowing if their player was the winner.

Vincent García decided to even change the production of the gala to avoid leaks. Marc Lass is the producer of the party that is broadcast in 170 countries. “Only two people will know who the winner is before opening the envelopes. Me, who will know in the last few hours due to a production issue, and Vincent,” he commented a few days ago. The organization decided not to warn the winning club, it did not organize any interview with the winner and has even decided not to publish the magazine with the interviews of all the winners until next November 9 to avoid leaks.. Until last year, the magazine with the winner’s cover came out on Tuesday, the day after the gala. Up to ten interviews of the possible winners have been prepared for this gala in Paris.

“The winner can tell his agent, his family, his hairdresser… We wanted to limit this risk by not revealing the secret to anyone,” confesses Vincent García. But if he has not leaked it and not even the protagonists know, how did Madrid find out that it is Rodri? Didier Drogba, master of ceremonies alongside Sandy Heribert since 2019, also admits in L’Équipe that this time he went blind: “Before, when the winner arrived in the room, we would see him sit in front of us completely relaxed. He was barely following the development of the evening and would get up a little mechanically when he heard his name. He was with his wife and children and the other players used to being alone, which was a little too visible. That has changed a lot now, and the faces will be a surprise… you will have to zoom in!”, he comments in L’Équipe. He himself did not know on Saturday who the winner was.

The pressures of the clubs

Vincent García, as expected, has suffered pressure, from clubs or agents who wanted to know the winners. “We warned them several months ago. What’s more, some people are playing the organizational problem card to try to figure out who won… I feel a bit of pressure, and some people around me are looking for at least a little clue. But I tell you that we have redefined the rules and that we will abide by them.” Perhaps I did not expect a reaction from Real Madrid of such magnitude. If they wanted to improvise a little more to give it excitement, there is no doubt that the white club has given the final twist to the script.

The organization’s message to Madrid

The organization, as MARCA reported this afternoon, found out that Madrid was not traveling when the news broke in the media. They had 50 people confirmed and they did not believe the white club’s decision. They maintain that no one told them that Vini was the winner. Efe collects a reaction from the organizers: “It’s incomprehensible”.

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