Ballon d’Or proves sexism is still very much alive in soccer
By Jordan Small
Ada Hegerberg is one of the best women’s soccer players in the world, but what happened at the Ballon d’Or is overshadowing her achievements.
The Ballon d’Or has been given out every year since 1956. Until 2018, France Football had given the award only to the best male player in the world. So when it was announced that in 2018 there would also be an award for the best female player, it was a big step forward. But on Monday evening, the award show proved just how far the world’s game still has to come.
On Monday night, Norway and Lyon star forward Ada Hegerberg took home the first ever women’s Ballon d’Or. As did her male counterpart, Luka Modric, Hegerberg stepped on stage to accept the prize. That’s where the similarities ended. Host Martin Solveig asked the 23-year-old to twerk while up on stage. Hegerberg shut down the question right away, but the awkward tension remained.
This is a prime example of how far the soccer world still has to come in giving the women’s game the respect it deserves. Solveig tried to dismiss his question as a joke, but the fact remains that it was incredibly sexist. Modric and Kylian Mbappe, who won the award for best young player, weren’t asked to do anything on stage but accept the reward for their hard work and dedication to the game.
With just seven months left until France hosts the biggest tournament in women’s soccer, France Football selects a host for its showpiece event who can’t let a female athlete get up on stage and be recognized for her athletic achievements without having to answer an outrageously sexist question.
But if you take anything away from this, let it be this: Pay attention to women’s soccer, respect women’s soccer. It has everything the men’s game does. It has the big goals, the clutch saves, the heartbreak of penalty kicks and the fancy trophies at the end of the World Cup. With the Women’s World Cup in France this summer, take a chance on the women’s game. You might just find your new favorite player. And when people start to take women’s soccer more seriously, moments like this from the Ballon d’Or ceremony will start to become a relic of the past.