PHOTO: Bildbyrån
The planning of the Ballon d’Or gala is “backward” and the golden match with Saudi Arabia is new proof that no one is listening.
Kosovar Asllani is so fed up with Uefa and Fifa that she launches an unexpected idea: a new federation just for women’s soccer.
– We have extended our hand for 100 years and have not seen any major change.
Almost exactly a year ago sighed Kosovar Asllani over the fact that the Ballon d’Or gala was placed in the middle of the women’s Nations League gathering.
At the Achille Hammerel stadium in Luxembourg, she just shakes her head when it turns out that the European Football Association (Uefa), which organizes the gala together with the football magazine France Football, has done it again.
– I have no further comments. I feel that it doesn’t matter what we say, says Asllani ahead of Sweden’s EC playoff away to Luxembourg.
Private flight to the gala
The gala, where the world’s best soccer player is chosen on both the women’s and men’s side, is held on Monday. The following day, several women’s national teams play decisive playoff matches.
READ MORE: The Swedish women’s team went undefeated for an entire season without conceding a goal – but still came second
Sweden face Luxembourg in the return leg at Gamla Ullevi on Tuesday, but have no nominees for the Ballon d’Or.
Norway’s Caroline Graham Hansen is, however, nominated. According to NRK, the Barcelona star will be flown by private jet to the gala on Monday, and then back to the national team gathering for the return against Albania.
– It is the players who suffer. But it doesn’t matter what we say. We can keep talking but if we talk to a wall – what difference does it make? But if you want to hear what I think, it’s totally backward, says Asllani.
The 35-year-old midfielder has had reason to criticize football’s heaviest confederation many times before. But she soon gives up.
She sees the fact that the International Football Association (FIFA) concluded a sponsorship agreement with the state-owned Saudi oil company Aramco this year as another sign that the criticism does not stick.
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Last spring, after strong protests, Fifa announced that, despite previous media reports, the tourism agency Visit Saudi would not sponsor the Women’s World Cup in 2023.
A year later, Aramco still steps in as an important partner.
So what to do if no one is listening? Kosovar Asllani has an idea.
– For my own part, if I could, I would have started my own association, only focused on women’s football. To choose our own sponsors and distribute the money as we want it to be distributed. That’s the next step.
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