When Spain‘s World Cup winner Aitana Bonmatí strode to the stage to collect her well-deserved Ballon d’Or Féminin award on Monday night, there was a sense of disrespect. And not for the first time.
The moment should have been a celebration of women’s football, though it was anything but. How could it be when the ceremony was scheduled during a women’s international window? Most of the nominees were either unable or not allowed to attend due to Nations League commitments or Olympic qualifiers the following day. Bonmati was there to represent the women’s game — and she had to leave Spain camp between games and rush back before facing Switzerland in Zurich on Tuesday night — but her Ballon d’Or was placed on stage after she arrived by an awkward stagehand as an afterthought; the prize seemingly forgotten on the sidelines.
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Another issue was the person designated to present her with the award in Paris: Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 male tennis player who has previously spoken out against equal pay in sport and has no link to women’s football.
Why tennis, you ask? Well, if it had been Serena Williams, who has spent her whole life elevating the image of women in sport, or Billie Jean King, who continued her legendary advocacy in women’s sport long beyond the end of her own playing career, there would have been no issue. If it had to be a male player, how about outspoken feminist Andy Murray? Spanish great Rafael Nadal would have at least been relevant to Bonmati.
But as Djokovic arrived, the perfectly timed camera cut-away to Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappé showed a brief look of incredulity that all fans of women’s football wore in that moment.
Those fans are used to such disrespect at this point.
