Ballon d’Or under fire of massive betting scandal
The Ballon d’Or has revealed its official ranking, while an illegal betting scandal on Polymarket threatens the credibility of the vote organised by France Football. Harry Kane was crowned winner, but Upside's revelations about massive and suspect wagers raise doubts about the integrity of the process.
Official ranking and suspected bets
The vote organised by France Football placed Harry Kane in first place, followed by Kylian Mbappé in second. Lamine Yamal occupies the third step of the podium, Rodri is fourth and Lionel Messi completes the top five. This ranking was announced in advance by the finance‑specialised account Upside, which immediately sparked outrage.
Upside revealed that the Top 5 was the target of massive bets on the predictive‑markets platform Polymarket. In total, $264,000 was injected via twelve suspect accounts created hastily in October.
Seven of those accounts bet only on this ranking, while six placed substantial sums just fifteen minutes after registering. A bettor identified under the pseudonym kraben006 first accumulated winnings on Harry Kane’s victory, then reinvested the whole amount on the exact positions of the ranking, reaching a seventy‑two percent probability several days before the ceremony.
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Reactions and outlook
Asked by Brut this weekend, the editor‑in‑chief of France Football, Vincent Garcia, admitted: “that is to say, from the moment there are three, five people in the loop, the risk of a leak is not zero.” He recalled the 2024 precedent, where an early leak of Rodri’s triumph at the expense of Vinícius Jr caused a diplomatic earthquake and led Real Madrid to boycott the ceremony.
The organisers had then tightened their procedures, swearing that the winner would be notified only at the very last moment. The prophecy came true in the worst possible way, the leak occurring despite those guarantees.
If the anonymity of the blockchain protects the identity of bettors, the actualisation of the scenario on Polymarket shows that leaks no longer serve only the press, but now generate colossal profits. The Ballon d’Or therefore finds itself facing an unprecedented sealing crisis, highlighting the vulnerability of its voting process.