Novak Djokovic presenting women’s Ballon d’Or sparks outrage

Argentinian megastar Lionel Messi won his record eighth Ballon d’Or at the glitzy Paris ceremony, while Spanish star Aitana Bonmati won the Ballon d’Or Féminin – pipping our own Sam Kerr for the top women’s award.

The annual ceremony is the soccer world’s equivalent of the Oscars.

But it was who presented Bonmati the gilt award that has caused a stir among fans: Serbian tennis legend Novak Djokovic.

Many fans took to social media question why FIFA had invited a tennis player to present the biggest individual prize in football, labelling the move “appalling and disrespectful”.

“We are living in the year of women’s football and we’re holding the Ballon d’Or in their international window and having … Novak Djokovic present the award. The disrespect,” sports journalist Lavender Baj wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“You could’ve stumbled out of a bar at 2am and found someone more worthy of presenting it.”

Some said choosing Djokovic to present the award felt like “actual trolling” by FIFA.

Another said if any male tennis player was going to make the cut to present the best player trophy to a woman, “you pick Andy Murray every day of the week”.

“Bizarre. Imagine Max Verstappen turning up to give out the men’s award,” sports broadcaster Sanny Rudravajhala wrote.

But it wasn’t just that Djokovic did not play football – though many questioned why another champion of the women’s game did not present the sport’s top honour – but his comments in relation to equal pay in tennis which struck a nerve.

In 2016 the Serbian tennis player faced heated backlash over his comments about equal pay in his sport, when he suggested male players should be paid more than women because they attracted more interest.

Djokovic later took to Facebook to apologise for any offence caused by his remarks, saying it was “not the best articulation of my view”.

He said he cared about the “future of the game and all of the players” and he wanted to advocate for “better distribution of funds across the board”.

In recent years, Djokovic has become a more vocal advocate of equal pay and fairness in tennis. In 2019, he reportedly suggested men take a pay cut to ensure women were paid the same; and in 2020 he co-founded the Professional Tennis Players Association, a player union of sorts.

Still, fans were not impressed by his inclusion in FIFA’s night of nights.

“Nothing says ‘celebrate the achievement of female athletes’ like inviting a male athlete who advocated against equal pay to talk about himself and the completely different sport he plays,” sports writer Tim Stillman wrote on X.

“The women’s Ballon d’Or was presented by a male athlete who in the past believed women in his sport shouldn’t make as much money as men,” the Her Way account, a news outlet for women’s sport, wrote.

Fans were also riled by the fact the ceremony was scheduled when most women players – including nominees Kerr, fellow Aussie Hayley Raso, and English nominee Mary Earps, to name a few – were playing international games.

They were also enraged by the seemingly bungled presentation of Bonmati’s trophy, which appeared to still be locked in its travel box as she came on stage and rushed over after an awkward interruption by the emcees.

Some saying it felt like “intentional undermining” of the women’s achievements by FIFA.

ABC sports journalist Samantha Lewis called out the “multiple layers of disrespect” on X, too – including a moment during the ceremony when Nigerian rapper Rema “blanked” the women players sitting in the front row to instead high-five the men during his mid-show performance.

She said the display was “quite stunning”.

It has been a heated few months in women’s football, especially for the Spanish team that Bonmati led to victory in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Sydney.

There was international backlash after then-Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales forced a kiss on player Jenni Hermoso at the televised trophy ceremony. Mr Rubiales resigned and was provisionally suspended over his actions.

This week he was served a three-year ban from all football activities for breaking FIFA’s code of conduct. Mr Rubiales said he will appeal the ban.

The incident was a ‘Me Too’ moment in the game and shone a bright light on the many struggles the Spanish women’s team – and female athletes more broadly – overcame to make it to the top of the world in August.

And now Bonmati is once again standing on top of the world, named the best player in her sport; but, once again, fans say her crowning moment has been tarnished.

Originally published as Fans slam Novak Djokovic presenting Ballon d’Or to Aitana Bonmati as ‘disrespectful’