2025 Ballon d’Or: How Nigerian Journalist Samm Audu Voted in the Award
- France Football has announced the votes for the 2025 Ballon d'Or, which Ousmane Dembele won
- The Paris Saint-Germain star won the award with more than 300 points ahead of Lamine Yamal
- The organisers have disclosed how the journalists from each country voted, including Nigeria
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The organisers of the Ballon d'Or have revealed the votes for the 2025 award, which crowned Paris Saint-Germain attacker Ousmane Dembele as the winner.
Dembele beat competition from Barcelona youngster Lamine Yamal to win the award, with his PSG teammate Vitinha picking the other podium spot.
Source: Getty Images
Yamal retained his Kopa Trophy, becoming the first player to win the award twice and in consecutive years, a consolation for losing the main award.
Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah was the highest-rated African player in fourth place, and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi was the other African in the top 10 in sixth place.
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The top 10 rankings generated controversies as always, particularly with Barcelona forward Raphinha finishing fifth despite having the most goals and assists in the UEFA Champions League.
Former Barcelona star Neymar Jr voiced his displeasure at his compatriot finishing in fifth place with a comment on Instagram, despite his exploits last season.
How Ballon d'Or voting works
According to partner organisation UEFA, the winner of the award is decided by votes from journalists in the top 100 countries on the FIFA ranking.
Each journalist picks their top 10 from the 30 nominees, and the selected players are awarded 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 points in descending order.
The journalists select the players based on three criteria: Individual performances, decisive and impressive character, team performances and achievements, class, and fair play.
However, there have been concerns from fans that many journalists do not vote based on these criteria but vote based on association or familiarity.
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Ties are separated by the number of first-place votes, then second, third, and so on, while other disputes are resolved by France Football’s editor-in-chief.
How Nigerian journalist voted in Ballon d'Or
According to L’Equipe, Ousmane Dembele received 73 first-place votes from the journalists, compared to Yamal's 11, while Vitinha received six.
Mohamed Salah (4), Achraf Hakimi (3), Kylian Mbappé (1), Khvitcha Kvaratskhelia (1), and Scott McTominay (1) are the other players to receive first-place votes, while Raphinha received none.
Source: Getty Images
One of Dembele's first-place votes came from Nigerian journalist Samm Audu, who picked him first, Yamal second, Salah third, Hakimi fourth, and Vitinha fifth.
The seasoned journalist picked Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Serhou Guirassy, Robert Lewandowski, Gianluigi Donnarumma, and Viktor Gyokeres in the rest of his top 10.
His votes are considered fair enough by fans, with the majority of his top 10 reflecting the final top 10 by his 99 other colleagues.
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Ballon d'Or top 10 ranked based on salaries
Legit.ng analysed the Ballon d'Or top 10 if the players are ranked based on their salaries, with Kylian Mbappe jumping from seventh to first.
Mohamed Salah is second on the list, while Dembele would have finished third if it were based on salaries. Achraf Hakimi was the only player who retained his position.
Source: Legit.ng
