Lionel Messi won his sixth Ballon d'Or mainly because he is a great player, and partly because he is part of the favored lot. Senegalese Sadio Mane is outside of that circle, according to national teammate Cheikhou Kouyate, so the chance of the Liverpool striker winning the honor is either slim or nil.
Mane was shortlisted for the Ballon award and landed No. 4 in the final tally, determined by votes from accredited football journalists. Messi came on top, followed by Virgil Van Dijk, and coming to the third spot is five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo.
Kouyate, who is part of the Crystal Palace roster, claimed his compatriot failed to garner sufficient votes because he came from Africa. It seemed that the Ballon title had been reserved for footballers originating either from Europe or South America.
"For me this Ballon d'Or is for Sadio Mane, there is no doubt about that... Listen, if Sadio was a Brazilian or a European there would not have been no debate," the Palace player was reported by Fox Sports as saying.
His arguments seemed anchored on the fact that in recent years, the Ballon award had been given to players from the continents mentioned above. In fact, Messi and Ronaldo have won the title multiple times, collecting 11 between them.
Kouyate was convinced Mane performed better in the last season, which was the basis of the balloting for Ballon. He conceded that Messi might have been the greatest player that ever lived but insisted that the Argentine clearly lost out to Mane.
The Senegalese were instrumental in his country's finals appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations. Mane is credited too for Liverpool's solid performance in the Premier League so far. The club is at the top of the table and is favored to win the title.
Kouyate said it appeared that Ballon had overlooked what Mane had achieved both in the international and domestic competitions.
"It would have been him for the award straight away and it's not because I play with him at international level... Just go back and watch what he did for both club and country and you will see in between the lines that no one has been better than him," Kouyate said.
Messi himself has acknowledged that Mane is playing great football in the current term, and it's the same last season. If he could pick from the final list of Ballon contenders, Messi said it would be an easy decision for him. His choice would have been the Liverpool star.
"I chose Sadio Mane because he's a player that I like ... Mane achieved a great year that was exceptional for the entire Liverpool team. That's why I chose him," the Barcelona superstar was reported by Metro as saying.
However, Messi was quick to clarify that picking out the best from the Ballon shortlist was not easy.
"There were a lot of very great players this year, so the choice was difficult," the Argentine said.
