Paris – Many gifts, favours, invitations and a very “particular” relationship with Pascal Ferré, former director of France Football in charge of the organization of the Ballon d'Or in exchange for 'lobbying' work and pressure so that the most prestigious award in the world of football went to Leo Messi, former Argentine jewel of the company owned by the emirs of Qatar. The hypothesis of wrongdoing is at the center of a judicial investigation started last November and revealed by Le Monde and other French newspapers, which were also able to examine the content of the reports drawn up by the investigators.
PSG has had a special relationship with Ferré for years, who has now become the club's press officer. But until 2023 he directed the editorial staff of the periodical that founded the prestigious recognition. In particular, in 2021, PSG would have put significant pressure on the journalist so that Messi, who had just landed in France, won his 7th Ballon d'Or. AND this operation, according to what appears from the minutes, was conducted by Jean-Martial Ribesthen the company's communications director, who worked to smooth out the edges of the difficult relations between the L'Equipe publishing group, to which France Football belongs, and the Qatari owners.
Among the moments of important “contact” between the protagonists, which came to light in the investigation, the presence of Ferré in the VIP stand of the Parc des Princes for a match against Lyon after Ribes allegedly told his collaborators that he wanted to “lobby” in favor of Messi, for him a legitimate candidate for the Ballon d'Or as winner, that year, of the America's Cup. Messi won that Ballon d'Or, even if Ferré's personal vote went to the Polish Lewandowski (with the Argentine in second place). And, according to what appears to Le Monde but also to the investigative site Mediapart, the work of convincing the clubs and jurors by the director of France Football was important. Among the gifts received by Ferré, the documents show various invitations to the Parc des Princes in the VIP stands for him and his friends, and completely free trips to Qatar (top class plane and ultra-luxury hotel). Is Le Mondeis Mediapart they add that Ferré, at the moment, did not want to comment on the news on the investigation in which he is involved.
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