70 years of the Ballon d’Or and a remarkable evening in London

70 years of the Ballon d’Or, and a special evening in London. ⚽✨

To celebrate its 70th anniversary, the Ballon d’Or chose to cross the Channel and take up residence at the London Palladium for the first time.

A fitting nod to its history, since the very first Ballon d’Or, in 1956, was awarded to England’s Sir Stanley Matthews.

This edition honoured Harry Kane and Alexia Putellas, while Paris Saint-Germain was named Men’s Club of the Year. Congratulations to the winners!

What I also love about this kind of evening is all the moments that take place around the ceremony.

Starting with the red carpet, which I walked with Laurent Eric Le Lay, Director of Sport and Events at France Télévisions.

A slight delay at the start ultimately gave us plenty of time to talk before making our entrance. Sometimes, the unexpected has its advantages! 😊

I also caught up with or met several figures from football, including Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane, Vozinha and Michael Olise, my favourite of this new generation, who finished in an excellent ninth place this year.

There was also an exhibition drawn from L’ÉQUIPE’s photographic collection.

On this occasion, I discovered the impressive scale of this heritage: more than 12 million photographs tracing decades of sporting history.

Among the photographs on display, I particularly liked one of Karim Benzema, captured in a very spontaneous moment. It was in front of that photograph that I chose to have my own picture taken.

I enjoyed rediscovering players, eras and moments through the images, sometimes very familiar ones… but from a different perspective.

And ultimately, it was quite fitting for the Ballon d’Or’s 70th anniversary: celebrating those making their mark on football today, while also meeting those who wrote its history.

A wonderful anniversary edition, and the London Palladium suited it rather well! ✨

UEFA
Gaël Couppé De K Martin, ACMA CGMA
#BallonDor #Football #InternationalFootball #SportsLeadership #FranceFootball