According to Le Monde, Paris Saint-Germain offered numerous gifts to Pascal Ferré, the person responsible for organizing the Ballon d’Or. And the capital club then tried to “lobby” to promote the victory of Lionel Messi in 2021.
Business is continuing for Paris Saint-Germain. After the revelations of the tax arrangements made at the time of Neymar’s arrival, Le Monde discusses this Saturday the relations between the capital club and Pascal Ferré, the former editor-in-chief of France Football, who was notably in charge of the organization of the Ballon d’Or.
This information comes from investigations into the various cases against Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, and justice is particularly interested in the activities of Jean-Martial Ribes, the former communications director of PSG (2017-2022). The latter was indicted in December 2023 for “active corruption and influence peddling”. He tended to establish relationships with certain influential people, in particular by offering them places for PSG meetings, and Ribes could then benefit from “certain services”, “that he requests or is offered to him”according to the investigators.
PSG “gifts” for a journalist
Pascal Ferré, thus, was close to Ribes. On several occasions, the journalist was able to gain access to tickets for Paris Saint-Germain gala matches. Le Monde recalls that “There is nothing illegal about the practice, but it can help the club in its influence strategy”. Pascal Ferré also received some favors from Qatar, the country of PSG’s owners, notably by going to Doha for the Club World Cup at the end of 2019, or for “a tennis stay » on the sidelines of an ATP tournament, early 2020.
PSG thus benefited from privileged contact in the media. In July 2019, Ferré reportedly agreed to delete a news item from the France Football website concerning accusations against Nasser Al-Khelaïfi. In September 2021, after the arrival of Lionel Messi, the capital club did not appreciate the front page of L’Equipe regarding the Argentinian’s salary. Pascal Ferré would then have “passed a soap” to Jérôme Cazadieu, then editorial director of L’Equipe.
Ballon d’Or, from the “lobby” for Messi
And the Ballon d’Or, then? In July 2020, PSG, via Jean-Martial Ribes, lobbied France Football to highlight its player Nadia Nadim, “hoping she’s at least on the list of nominees.” » But it was especially in 2021, after the arrival of Messi, that PSG used its contacts. The capital club would have asked Pascal Ferré to do “from the lobby” among voters, to promote the victory of the Argentinian. A lunch with Nasser Al-Khelaïfi was even organized. A few weeks before the vote, Ferré sent Ribes the upcoming front page of France Football, dedicated to Messi, in order to give “maximum resonance” to the old Barcelonan.
However, can we conclude that PSG’s action favored Messi’s victory? It is impossible to say. Pascal Ferré’s lawyer, in response to this whole story of “gifts”, denounces “shortcuts and interpretations as fanciful as they are defamatory”. The vote was close, with Messi’s victory ahead of Lewandowski (613 points against 580), and Pascal Ferré himself placed Messi in second position in his vote, behind Lewandowski.
