Politics has crept into Ballon d'Or: Mourinho

Jose Mourinho has reignited the debate over the Ballon d'Or. According to the Portuguese coach, football's most prestigious individual award should be given as recognition of a player's extraordinary talent, rather than based on team success or trophies won.

For Mourinho, the Ballon d'Or belongs to someone whose game stays with people long after they have finished watching. To illustrate his point, he cited Diego Maradona, Ronaldo Nazario, Lionel Messi and Zinedine Zidane as examples.

Mourinho said, "I think the Ballon d'Or should be won by those we miss after they retire. I miss Maradona, I miss Nazario, I miss Messi, I miss Zizou (Zidane)."

The coach is also not in favour of giving the award to someone simply because they won the Champions League or the World Cup. He argued that if team success were the main criterion, coaches should be the ones rewarded.

He said, "You cannot give the Ballon d'Or just because someone won the Champions League or the World Cup. If you want to reward the Champions League, give the Ballon d'Or to Luis Enrique. And for Spain, surely De la Fuente deserves it."

However, Mourinho was reluctant to accept that the world's best player is only found at PSG or in Spain. In his view, there can be more than one best player in the world, and football fans know who they are: "The best player in the world doesn't have to be from PSG or Spain. There are two, three or four—we know who they are."

Mourinho did not hide his dissatisfaction with the Ballon d'Or selection process either. He alleged that politics has an influence on the award: "There is politics in the Ballon d'Or. And when politics creeps in, I don't like it as much."