Barcelona sporting director Deco has launched a scathing attack on the award's organisers, France Football and UEFA, after Raphinha and Pedri were left off the 30-man shortlist for the 2026 Ballon d'Or. Last season the Catalan club won La Liga, Spain's top flight, and the Spanish Super Cup, with the Brazilian forward contributing 21 goals and eight assists. Pedri, the Spain midfielder, made 43 appearances and went on to lift the World Cup with his national team. Deco pulled no punches. "For me, it's a global scandal that Raphinha and Pedri are missing from the Ballon d'Or top 30," he told Catalan radio station RAC1. Club president Joan Laporta has fully backed his sporting director, insisting that both players deserved a place among the nominees.
Yet the regulations tell a very different story. Under the Ballon d'Or voting rules, the assessment period opened on 3 August 2025 and closed on 19 July 2026, the day of the World Cup final, so Raphinha's two hat-tricks in September could not count. The 100-strong jury of journalists also takes team honours into account, and Barcelona's Champions League run ended in the quarter-finals. Deco maintains that individual awards are often unfair, but he has no doubts about 19-year-old Lamine Yamal and names him as the frontrunner. Away from the awards debate, the club passed on Bernardo Silva after talks stalled over financial parameters and playing time, signing Anthony Gordon from Newcastle United instead to bring more intensity to the side. The winner will be officially revealed on 26 October 2026 at the London Palladium, at a ceremony marking the award's 70th anniversary.
