The voting for the FIFA Ballon d'Or has been extended until Nov. 29, spurring a tremendous amount of controversy.
The original deadline was set for Nov. 15, prior to the first legs of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The news of the extension came to light during the qualifiers Tuesday. Mundo Deportivo's Francesc Aguilar wrote a series of Tweets in which he expressed his discontent at the decision.
"I have no words," Aguilar tweeted. "FIFA and France Football have extended the period of voting to Nov. 29 2013. First the jury had to have voted by at least the 15th of this month. The second legs for Brazil 2014 were not included. That was just as unfair as this change is suspicious. Bit by bit FIFA are ruining the Ballon d'Or with the decisions which are taking place. You do not need to be a genius to see that this decision to extend the voting period for the FIFA Ballon d'Or benefits CR7."
Franck Ribery was the clear-cut favorite heading into Friday's deadline, but the extension clearly benefits one player — Cristiano Ronaldo. The superstar scored a hat trick for Portugal in its 3-2 win over Sweden and gave one of the most potent international performances in recent history. No longer will people be able to criticize Ronaldo for failing to step up for his nation; this performance alone cements his legacy as arguably Portugal's greatest player.
Ronaldo has been scoring at a rampant pace; he has 13 goals in six straight matches for club and country. His 66 goals are the most by any player this year.
FIFA's President Sepp Blatter recently mocked Cristiano Ronaldo and expressed his preference for Lionel Messi. This comment insulted Ronaldo and his supporters who immediately called the organization corrupt and essentially conceded the Ballon d'Or victory. Ronaldo himself said he would boycott the ceremony in January. It seems the move may be an attempt to make amends with the superstar and also attempt to lure him back to attending the ceremony; after all, his absence would hurt the image of the Ballon d'Or as it would undermine its importance. And FIFA, which is struggling to keep people interested in international soccer, does not want to continue losing its credibility with its top individual award.
Of course, this could also be seen as an attempt to ensure Messi wins his fifth award. Afterall, the voters in the press, players and coaches may now see that Ronaldo stands as the favorite and could attempt to skew the vote in favor of the Argentine to avoid a Ronaldo victory for the first time since 2008. Messi's recent injury and "pedestrian" stats (by his standards) have hurt his attempts to secure his fifth straight Ballon d'Or.
Who does the extension favor most? Ronaldo, FIFA or Messi?