For 70 years, the Ballon d’Or had never been presented outside France. Its first trip abroad – to the London Palladium on Monday 26 October – will be remembered as much for what went wrong around the ceremony as for the winners themselves.
Before a single guest had arrived, winners’ articles had appeared on the award’s official website. By the time the red carpet was under way, crowds outside the venue had broken through barriers and police were dealing with bricks being thrown. The ceremony itself started 45 minutes late and ran to almost two and a half hours.
From Paris to London
The event, which has been held at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris since 2019, moved to London this year to honour Stanley Matthews, the Englishman who won the inaugural award in 1956. France Football has presented the award since its creation, and since 2024 the ceremony has been co-organised by UEFA and Groupe Amaury, the French media group behind France Football and L’Équipe. Organisers have described the move as a one-off, with the ceremony expected to return to Paris in 2027.
A delayed start
The Palladium sits just off Oxford Street, one of London’s busiest shopping streets, which had been made traffic-free on the day of the ceremony. With large crowds also gathering at the entrance, many guests were held up and the 8pm GMT start slipped to 8.45pm. Organisers first announced a 30-minute delay with no explanation, before broadcaster DAZN confirmed a further 15 minutes and pointed to traffic in the city.
Winners published early
Problems had started hours before the doors opened, when the Ballon d’Or website published an article declaring Harry Kane the men’s winner. Similar articles were then discovered for other contenders, including Kylian Mbappé and Alexia Putellas. A spokesperson said the pieces had been “inadvertently published online”, explaining that articles had been written in advance for every nominee and did not indicate the final rankings.
Social media added to the confusion, with the official accounts congratulating “Alexia Bonmati” – a mix of two nominees’ names – in a post that was later removed.
Trouble outside the venue
Hundreds of fans gathered behind metal fencing hoping to catch sight of the players. BBC Sport reported seeing the barriers climbed, broken and pulled down, with security removing several people who made it through.
The Metropolitan Police, London’s police force, issued a Section 35 dispersal order – a power allowing officers to order people to leave an area – shortly before 8pm. Police said bricks and scaffolding clips were thrown at officers as they cleared the crowd, and two people were arrested.
A restless audience
Inside, the atmosphere was little calmer. Hosts Kate Scott and Thierry Henry had to halt the show more than once as audience members shouted out players’ names, and there was booing during commercial breaks.
Press conference criticism
Harry Kane and Alexia Putellas went on to win the men’s and women’s awards. In the press conferences that followed, reporters were able to question Alexia Putellas, but only male journalists were chosen to put questions to Harry Kane, with several female journalists reportedly passed over. The Ballon d’Or team has since apologised.
