“I found that the support in France for Ribéry was not good. We have a Frenchman who could have been a Ballon d’Or and who deserved it, and above all who won everything with Bayern. When he is committed to such a trophy, you have to support him. We are French,” Henry stated.
Ribéry, who secured a remarkable Cup-Championship-Champions League treble with Bayern Munich last season, finished third in the Ballon d’Or rankings, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Michel Platini also criticized the outcome, expressing his disappointment for Ribéry and questioning the changing criteria for the Ballon d’Or.
“I am very disappointed for Franck Ribéry. So next year, we will come back and it will be Ronaldo-Messi, then in two years Messi-Ronaldo, in three years Ronaldo-Messi? For 50 years, the Ballon d’Or took into account the results on the field. Here, it is rather based on the overall performance of the players, and that poses a problem. Even if Ronaldo is a very big Ballon d’Or. There is a little something that has changed about the Ballon d’Or since it moved to FIFA,” Platini remarked.
