Bombshell As Player Claims His Ballon d’Or Votes Were Changed to Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo

• A huge scandal has rocked the Ballon d’Or awards as a player claims his votes were changed
• According to former Levante player Juvenal Edjogo, he voted for Didier Drogba and Andreas Iniesta
• But his votes changed to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when it was made public

The Ballon d'Or award has been caught up in a scandal after a player claims his votes were altered when made public.

Lionel Messi, the winner of a record seven Ballon d'Ors, was named FIFA's The Best Men's Player on Monday.

The Paris Saint-Germain star beat off competition from his club teammate Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema to win his second The Best award in his career.

Messi received 52 points after all of his votes from national team captains, coaches, media and fans, while Mbappe came in second with 44 and Benzema got 34 points, per FIFA.

Karim Benzema aims another dig at FIFA following Messi winning The Best Men's Player award

Football

It's always fascinating to see the final tally of votes many hours later.

However, the ex-captain of Equatorial Guinea Juvenal Edjogo has revealed a shocking fact about the voting procedure for such accolades.

According to the former Levante player, he was qualified to cast his vote for the 2013 prize as the skipper for the Nzalang Nacional.

The 43-year-old claims he voted for Chelsea's Didier Drogba and Barcelona star Andrés Iniesta.

But after the voting was made public, he realised the voting forms stated he had opted for both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“What little I can say about this type of award is that in 2013, I voted for my three players for the Ballon d’Or, and I sent my votes, and in the end when it was made public, the list of who voted for who, my votes were different,” Juvenal told Gol Play, as relayed by AS.

Croatia coach slams FIFA over 'disrespect' shown to his team at 2022 The Best Awards

Football

“It said I voted for Messi, Cristiano, and I don’t know who else, but I didn’t vote for any of them. That’s why I say, I don’t believe in absolutely anything about those awards.

"Since then, I’ve thought these awards have no value.”

Benzema takes jab at FIFA

Real Madrid forward, Benzema has described FIFA as liars after Messi was named the 2022 best player at The Best Awards in Paris, France.

Messi beat Benzema and Mbappe to win the coveted award for the year's best player for a second time, Sports Brief previously reported.

However, Benzema feels the accolade was given to the wrong person after his stellar 2022 with Real Madrid, including winning La Liga.

Africa's FIFA the Best voting

The 2022 FIFA The Best player awards in France on February 27 ended with arguably the greatest player of all-time, Lionel Messi winning the top prize, Sports Brief reported earlier.

Lionel Messi appears to troll Karim Benzema after FIFA the Best glory

Football

Three African players were included in a list of the world's 15 best footballers, including Senegal star, Sadio Mane.

He placed sixth, the highest by an African player at the 2022 awards ceremony despite missing the World Cup in Qatar.