Speaking to Bild in an interview on Sunday, Robert Lewandowski said it will not offense him to receive the Ballon d’or 2020 four years after France Footbal decided to cancel the award.
The 2019/20 season was one of the best-ever the Polish hitman had in his entire career both personally and in team performance.
Robert Lewandowski scored 55 goals and provided 10 in 47 appareances across all competitions winning the UEFA Champions League and all the domestic trophies.
However, France Football decided to cancel the ceremony in 2020 due to the coronavirus much to the chagrin of Lewandowski.
Four years later, the current Barcelona striker says he will be happy to receive his award.
“I had the best years of my career in 2020 and 2021. A friend recently sent me statistics: I scored 100 goals in 85 games. Of course, I would have loved to receive the Ballon d’Or award at some point. It’s not that I’m angry or nostalgic because I haven’t won this trophy yet. But I feel like it would have been my turn in one of those two years”, Lewy told Bild.
“The one from 2021 belongs to Lionel Messi. I’ve heard there are rumors that the 2020 Ballon d’Or could still be awarded belatedly. That year was outstanding for me, I was at my highest level, we won everything. Let’s put it this way: if i were to receive the 2020 Ballon d’Or four years later, I would certainly not be offended – it would be a big honor and I would accept the award”, he added.
Why France Football cancelled Ballon d’or 2020 award?
There was evidence in everyone’s head in 2020 that Robert Lewandowski would have won the Ballon d’or 2020 if the award was organized.
However, France Football decided to cancel it explaining that the conditions were not met for such a prize to have it’s ceremony.
“There will be no edition in 2020, because it turns out, after thoughtful consideration, that all the conditions are not met. We believe that such a singular year cannot — and should not — be treated as an ordinary one”, FF’s Chief Editor Pascal Ferré said in a statement back then.
“From a sports perspective, two months [January and February], out of the 11 generally required to form an opinion and decide who should lift the trophies, represent far too little to gauge and judge; without forgetting that the other games were played — or will be played — in unusual conditions [behind closed doors, with five replacements, Champions League’s Final eight played in a single game].
“Finally, the equality that is required for this honorary title will not be met, especially when it comes to assessing performance and preparation: all the award contenders will not be in the same boat, some having seen their season cut short.
“Therefore, how can we establish a fair comparison? To avoid overly convoluted calculations and projections, we chose the least bad of the options.”