Deco, the sporting director of the Spanish Football Club Barcelona, criticized the exclusion of Pedri and Rafinha, the team's players, from the list of final candidates to win the Ballon d'Or, presented by the famous French magazine "France Football" for the best player in the world for the year 2026, while Lamine Yamal, the Catalan club player, was nominated to win the award.
The day before yesterday, Tuesday, France Football announced the list of candidates to win the prestigious award, which included 30 players, but did not include the names of Pedri and Rafinha.
Dicko expressed his regret, saying: “It is a global scandal. I don't understand these lists and I don't understand the nomination criteria. Individual awards are often unfair, and it is always difficult to single out specific individuals in a team sport. “Seeing players like Pedri or Rafinha left out of the list is difficult to accept.”
Barcelona's sporting director also stated in an interview with the Spanish radio station Rak 1 that the winner of the Ballon d'Or should be Lamine Yamal, Barcelona's young player, noting that he "was crowned a major champion, provided crucial moments with Barcelona, and continued his development."
Deco explained: “Last season was decisive. I have no doubt about that. Everyone defends their players, but I'm not saying this just because he plays for Barcelona; For me, it is the best.”
The Portuguese official spoke about nominating Pau Cobarci to win the award for the best young talent in the world this year along with Lamine Yamal, in addition to the duo’s nomination to win the Golden Ball.
Deco said: “Koparsi is like (Lamine) Yamal in the centre-back position, he has an amazing talent. We see this day after day and we are witnessing an exceptional development in his level, both in terms of his maturity and the way he behaves as a leader.”
It is noteworthy that Yamal, Kuparsi and Pedri were included in the list of the Spain national team, which won the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, and they also played an important role in Barcelona winning the Spanish League title last season.
Former Liverpool star Steven Gerrard expressed his satisfaction with Arsenal's failure to include one of its most prominent goals during the summer transfer window.
Arsenal, which won its first league title since 2004 last season, strengthened its ranks during the summer with distinguished deals that included Bruno Guimarães, Ezri Konsa and Christos Zoulis.
However, things did not go as Arsenal wished in the transfer market, as they failed to include several key targets in their quest to sign a high-caliber striker.
Arsenal studied the possibility of concluding a huge deal to include Brazilian Vinicius Junior, but the player rejected their interest and preferred to sign a new contract with Real Madrid, while Morgan Rogers chose to move to Chelsea instead of joining the league champions.
Arsenal was also keen to include Argentine Julian Alvarez, the Atletico Madrid player, who publicly announced his desire to join Barcelona this summer.
Even when Atletico Madrid made it clear that it would not agree to sell the player to Barcelona, Alvarez did not seem enthusiastic about the move to Arsenal, a result that pleased former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.
Speaking on the TNT Sports network about this file, Gerrard said: “I understand his point of view, but Atletico Madrid does not want to strengthen its competitor or become a club that supplies players to the teams it competes with locally and in the Champions League. “So it can be understood from the club’s perspective as well.”
He added: "I'm just glad he didn't go to Arsenal, and I'll be satisfied with this amount of comment."
Competition is still intense between Morocco and Spain over the right to host the final match of the next World Cup in 2030.
This comes in light of the stance of the President of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), Swiss Gianni Infantino, who is facing many pressures and criticism.
FIFA has not yet officially announced the country that will host the most important match in the largest football event in the world, and although the 2026 edition has just ended with the Spanish national team winning the title this summer, Moroccan and Spanish officials are working hard to ensure hosting the final match of the next edition of the World Cup.
This competition over the final match of the 2030 World Cup came at a time when Spain is still suffering from the repercussions of a massive influx of tens of thousands of migrants who crossed the border from Morocco into the Spanish enclave in North Africa, late last July.
Fawzi Lakjaa, President of the Moroccan Football Federation, boasted on Thursday that his country had guaranteed to host the 2030 World Cup final, as he said at a political gathering: “The city of Benslimane will host the final match of the World Cup. Whether they like it or hate it, whoever wants to comment on that should do so.”
He added: “The city is Benslimane, and the stadium is Hassan II Stadium, and I hope that the Moroccan national team will play that match.”
On the other hand, Rafael Lauzan, president of the Spanish Football Federation, stressed this week that Spain deserves to host the match, while acknowledging that this honor has not yet been granted to it with certainty.
Lausanne said: “We have all signed to accept the nomination file, and it is unfortunate that the location of the final match was not made clear completely and conclusively.”
He added: “As the world champion in men’s and women’s football, Spain should host the final match of the World Cup.”
European football officials believe that the huge 2030 event, which spans several countries and includes Portugal and even a few matches in South America, should be considered a European event, and therefore the final should be held on the Old Continent.
In response to a request for comment from the Associated Press, FIFA stated that its decision on this matter would be made “at the appropriate time.”
The dispute also revolves around the location of the next World Cup final at a time when Infantino is facing enormous pressure, after the European Football Association (UEFA), the umbrella organization for European federations, led a successful rebellion that led to the abort of the FIFA president’s plan to sell shares in the World Cup tournament.
On the other hand, six Arab federations, including the Moroccan Football Federation, announced their support for Infantino in the wake of that failure.
The King Hassan II Stadium is currently being built in the Benslimane area, located on the outskirts of the city of Casablanca. It is planned that the stadium will accommodate 115,000 spectators, while Spain can offer the stadium of either Real Madrid or Barcelona to host the next World Cup final.
Infantino recently made two visits to Morocco, where he met with King Mohammed VI during the annual celebrations commemorating his accession to the throne last July, and then held an emergency FIFA meeting there the following month.
When it was announced three years ago, the idea of a joint candidacy between Spain, Portugal and Morocco seemed an ideal event to build bridges of communication between Europe and Africa and strengthen ties between neighbors in the western Mediterranean.
However, the dispute over the final match comes in light of already existing diplomatic tensions between Madrid and Rabat. A state of tension prevailed after the influx of tens of thousands of people, most of them Moroccans, towards the small Spanish enclave of Ceuta bordering Morocco, prompted by posts on social media about who is responsible for this matter.
The Spanish Prime Minister stated that 140 people died trying to cross.
The Spanish government is facing internal political pressure demanding that it take a tough stance towards Morocco, despite its assertion that Morocco acted in good faith during the border crisis. Spanish police assessments did not rule out the possibility of collusion on the part of the Moroccan security forces, but they indicated that it is unlikely that the Moroccan government had deliberately orchestrated the matter.
