Paris Saint-Germain players will miss the Ballon d’Or ceremony on Monday (September 22) due to a controversial decision made by Ligue 1 officials. The Parisians’ highly successful past year will be recognised in Paris when the awards ceremony takes place.
Several of Luis Enrique’s European champions have been nominated for prizes, including Ousmane Dembele, the frontrunner to win the Ballon d’Or. The French forward was outstanding as his team won the Champions League, earning the competition’s Player of the Tournament accolade.
Dembele has not played in recent weeks due to a hamstring injury sustained earlier this month during the international break. The 28-year-old is anticipated to remain out for another four weeks but could attend Monday night’s ceremony.
PSG players set to miss the Ballon d’Or ceremony
PSG was scheduled to meet rivals Marseille in Ligue 1 action on Sunday (September 21), but inclement weather prompted Le Classique to be cancelled. Officials from Ligue 1 confirmed the game’s postponement six hours before kickoff at the Stade Velodrome.
The match will now be played on Monday, as per the rules of the Ligue de Football Professionnel, and it will collide with the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris on the same night. The organisation issued an announcement stating:
“Le Classique has been postponed until Monday at 20:00pm. The Prefect of Bouches-du-Rhone has decided to postpone the Olympique de Marseille-Paris Saint-Germain match due to the bad weather expected for the Marseille region.”
Then they said: “The match has been rescheduled for this Monday, September 22 at 8:00PM.”
Enrique was scheduled to get the Johan Cruyff Trophy (Best Coach of the Year) on Monday, but he will most likely be too busy leading his team against their fierce rivals to accept the trophy. Vitinha, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and Nuno Mendes are also nominated for the Ballon d’Or and are considered outsiders to win the trophy.
Dembele’s injury means he is unaffected by the match taking place at the same time as the presentation, and he will be able to receive the trophy if he wins as planned. However, he will do it without his teammates in attendance to celebrate his accomplishment.
Marseille’s Stade Velodrome is located in the Bouches-du-Rhone region and has been issued an orange alert for rain, flooding, and thunderstorms. The Bouches-du-Rhone region, which includes the Stade Velodrome, has issued an orange alert for rain, flooding, and thunderstorms. Rainfall is expected to reach 70-90 millimetres, with a maximum of 120 millimetres in the early evening.
This is not a repetition of the 2024 Ballon d’Or crisis, in which Real Madrid players chose not to attend the presentation after learning that Rodri had won the award over Vinicius Junior. That was a club decision, and while there is no obligation for individuals to attend, PSG will undoubtedly regret missing this year’s.
‘Heated Discussions’ Between PSG and Marseille About Scheduling
PSG requested that the game be played at a different time than the original 8:00pm kickoff on Monday due to the Ballon d’Or presentation. This apparently resulted in “intense discussions” between the two clubs, who held opposing opinions on when the match should take place.
The game was scheduled to begin at the same time as the ceremony, but Georges-François Leclerc, prefect of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, made it obvious that Parisians were not pleased. He told RMC Sport: “They were not thrilled, but they were quite courteous. They would have liked that the match be played tonight, but they accepted the decision.
Marseille did not want the game relocated later in the week because they already had a game against Strasbourg scheduled for Friday. It will be the first time the two rivals have met this season, and Enrique’s men will be hoping to build on their perfect start, which has seen them top of Ligue 1, while Roberto De Zerbi’s hosts are ninth with two victories and two defeats.
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