Ex-Ballon d'Or chief: agent left an envelope, I won't vote Mbappé

📰 Pascal Ferré, who ran the Ballon d'Or for more than 27 years, has caused a stir by revealing an 'envelope' episode ahead of this year's ceremony. 📌 Key points ✉️ A nominee's agent asked him to lobby the jury, then left an envelope behind. 🙅 Ferré refused on the spot and handed the envelope, unopened, to reception. 🤐 He did not name the agent or player, or say what was inside. 🏛️ He says Florentino Pérez never sent him a message or even a hint. 🗳️ On Mbappé, he said: this year I would not vote for him. 📝 What happened 📖 Ferré oversaw the Ballon d'Or at France Football from 1996 to 2023. Promoting his new book, The Hidden Face of the Ballon d'Or, he told Marca about past episodes. ✉️ According to Ferré, an agent whose client was nominated made the case for the player and asked whether Ferré could 'sell' the candidacy to the jury. Ferré said no and stepped away to take a phone call; when he came back the agent had gone, leaving an envelope on the table. He says he does not know what was in it, and the agent has never mentioned it since. ⚽ He said Mbappé ran a better campaign than Lamine Yamal, but that the award is earned, not requested. Record reports Ferré saying Pérez 'loves' the Ballon d'Or but never pressured him. In Le Parisien he warned that voters are not naive and that too much self-promotion can cost a player the award. 😢 He also recalled the winners' calls: in 2018 Luka Modrić went silent and then cried, while in 2022 Karim Benzema sounded cold and apologised days later, explaining he was on a massage table and could not shout in front of team-mates. 📊 By the numbers • Ferré in charge of the Ballon d'Or: 1996–2023 • 2026 ceremony: 26 October, London (first time in the city) • Men's nominees: 30 🔭 Why it matters With voting closed and only the ceremony to come, a former chief describing a lobbying attempt reopens the annual debate over how fair the Ballon d'Or really is. The winner, from a race led by Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Mbappé, is revealed in London on 26 October.