The Ballon d’Or ceremony in London on Monday night was a total train wreck before it even truly began. Instead of kicking off at 8 PM GMT, proceedings were pushed back a shocking 45 minutes, finally getting started at 8:45 PM. This was the first time in its 70-year history the event hit London, specifically the iconic London Palladium, and let’s just say it didn’t exactly roll out the red carpet smoothly.
Traffic, Delays, and a Rowdy Crowd
You know London traffic can be a nightmare, but organizers apparently picked the absolute worst day. They set this major event practically next door to Oxford Street, which, get this, was made traffic-free on the same day! Talk about planning. That, combined with massive crowds at the entrance, meant a ton of guests were late, forcing the whole show to delay. Once it finally kicked off, the audience was rowdy and boisterous for nearly two and a half hours. Hosts Kate Scott and Thierry Henry had to hit pause multiple times because people were just screaming players’ names, and yeah, there was booing during commercial breaks. Seriously, what was going on?
Even after Harry Kane and Alexia Putellas were crowned the big winners, the chaos didn’t stop. They moved to separate press conferences, and while journalists could fire questions at Putellas, Kane’s session was wild. Only men were selected to ask him anything, with several female journalists seemingly ignored. The Ballon d’Or team has since had to apologize for that one. Unbelievable.
Winners Leaked and Barriers Broken
And if you thought the live event was messy, get this: the confusion started *hours* before the ceremony even began. The official Ballon d’Or website actually published an article announcing Kane as the men’s winner! Further digging showed similar articles for other favorites like Kylian Mbappe and Putellas had also been online. A spokesperson later tried to play it off, saying these articles were “inadvertently published online” and just “prepared for all nominees” but come on, what a blunder, especially when the Kane announcement turned out to be true.
Outside the Palladium, it was pure madness too. Hundreds of fans mobbed the area, desperate to see the stars. Organizers set up metal fencing and barricades to keep ticketless people out, but the BBC Sport team saw those barriers scaled, broken, and ripped down. People were getting evicted left and right. Social media footage even showed fans clashing with security and police. The Met Police have been approached for comment, which tells you everything you need to know about how tense that atmosphere got.
This was supposed to be a historic night for football’s biggest individual honor, celebrating the absolute best players in the world. Instead, it felt like a chaotic mess from start to finish. The organizers have a lot to answer for, and frankly, a lot to fix before they even *think* about doing something like this again. Football fans deserve better when we celebrate our stars.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by BBC Sport.
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