Ballon d’Or organisers say erroneous articles did not reveal winners

The Ballon d’Or organising committee has issued a statement after the award’s official website published articles appearing to announce Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal as winners, just hours before the ceremony.

Three separate articles were posted on the website, with each one stating that one of the three nominees had won the award.

The committee said the publications were made accidentally and insisted they did not disclose the final outcome.

“Reports introducing some of the nominees for the Ballon d’Or were mistakenly published online by the award’s website,” the organisers said.

“These articles had been written in advance for each nominee in case they won the award.”

The statement added: “These articles do not reveal in any way the order of the top three positions, which remains unknown to everyone until now.”

The clarification was issued before the ceremony to address the reports concerning Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal.