Controversy over non-nomination – Neymar intervenes

The nominations for the coveted award continue to cause discussions. Now Brazil’s idol has intervened – and is clearly taking the side of a colleague.

Even the non-nomination of Jamal Musiala for what is probably the highest individual award in football caused incomprehension. “I’m happy for every player who is nominated for the Ballon d’Or, but we at FC Bayern are very surprised that Jamal Musiala is missing from this list,” Bayern sporting director Max Eberl told the German Press Agency on Thursday.

The 50-year-old continued to clearly support the German international: “Jamal was one of the outstanding players at the European Championship, was voted into the top eleven and was one of the tournament’s top scorers” (read more here).

Now a superstar of world football has also spoken out – and clearly taken the side of a fellow countryman.

“Top 5 in the world, at least!” wrote Brazil’s top scorer Neymar on Thursday in his Instagram story and added: “Star.” He also posted a photo of his Brazilian national team colleague Rodrygo. The Real Madrid striker was also not nominated despite a strong last season with the “Royals”. The 23-year-old had won the Champions League, championship and Spanish Supercup with Real.

Rodrygo had previously expressed his displeasure, posting a collage of himself with all the trophies he won last year in his own Instagram story.

The award for the best footballers in the world, presented by the French trade magazine “France Football”, will be presented in Paris on October 28th. Last year’s winner Lionel Messi, who triumphed with Argentina at the Copa América this year and has already won the Golden Ball eight times, was not considered, nor was the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo. This means that neither of the two superstars is up for election for the first time since 2003.