Ribéry: "Ballon d'Or prize is purely political"

Franck Ribéry took a swipe on Friday at the organization, voting procedures and philosophy behind the Ballon d'Or. The France international finished third behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi in 2013 -- the same position his Bayern Munich teammate and Germany World Cup-winning goalkeeper Manuel Neuer occupied in the voting for the 2014 award.

"While Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are playing, whoever is nominated third might as well accept they have no chance. It has to be asked whether it's worth bothering to go to the gala. For the photos?" Ribéry said in an interview with AZ.

"What do you have to do to win it? Neuer won the World Cup, the Bundesliga and he has been the best goalkeeper in the world for the past two or three years and even so none of it matters. I don't understand it. For me the prize is purely political," the Bayern midfielder said.

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