Unfair France Football cancelled Ballon d’Or because Robert Lewandowski could have won, admits Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

While Lionel Messi finished another season with 20 plus goals and as many assists, many believed that the front-runner for the 2020 Ballon d’Or was Robert Lewandowski. The Polish international had a fantastic season with Bayern Munich and lifted both the Bundesliga title and the DFB Pokal at the end of arguably his best season with the club. The 31-year-old netted an incredible 51 goals in 43 appearances which includes eleven goals in six Champions League games and 34 goals in 31 Bundesliga appearances.

However, France Football announced earlier last week that they would not award the Ballon d’Or for the first time since its inception because they believed there was a “lack of sufficient fair conditions”. They cited the coronavirus as the leading factor for that as it forced the Ligue 1 and a few others into ending their season early. Yet, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge admitted that Bayern Munich are unhappy at the decision as it could have seen Lewandowski potentially win the award. He also added that the award could have been handed out and it’s unfair that the decision was made to cancel it.

"I believe Robert Lewandowski is playing a fantastic season and he performed maybe the best season in his career. Unfortunately, France Football cancelled the Ballon d'Or, which we are not very happy . In the end, it's not very fair - not just for Bayern but also for Robert Lewandowski, who might have won," Rummenigge said reported Goal.

"I believe it's very important that in a season that, except the French league, performed through to the end of the season, it has to be possible to give the Ballon d'Or to the best footballer in the world. Of course, I believe, in those circumstances, Robert would have a good chance to win it for the first time in his career."