Did FIFA accidentally announce Lionel Messi and Celia Sasic as Ballon d’Or winners on their website?
Football fans across the globe have been left wondering if FIFA accidentally leaked the winners of the Ballon d’Or on their website on Wednesday.
Football’s world governing body momentarily placed Lionel Messi and Celia Sasic at the summit of their list of winners on their website, alongside the year 2015. Their names were swiftly removed.
The ceremony is scheduled to take place on January 11 but Messi and Sasic would not be surprising winners.
Messi’s goal tally propelled Barcelona to the treble in the 2014-15 season and earned him the nomination
Messi spearheaded Barcelona to the treble last season, scoring 48 goals in 53 games for his team.
He is competing against Neymar, his Barcelona team-mate, and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo for the gong and if Messi is the winner, it will be the fifth time he has held the Ballon d’Or.
Sasic, meanwhile, won the women’s World Cup with Germany in 2015 and was also top scorer for Frankfurt as they won the Champions League.
But she retired from the game in July at the age of 27, saying she wanted to pursue new challenges.
‘I am looking forward to many new things in my life: my university studies, a new orientation job-wise and starting a family among many other things,’ Sasic said.