Chiesa and the players who were snubbed from this year's Ballon d'Or

France Football officially announced the 30-man shortlist nominees for Ballon D'or 2021 on Friday. From popular stars like Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar to young guns like Pedri, Mount, Foden to fan favourites like De Bruyne, Modric, Kante - the shortlist was an elite one, to say the least. Yet, fans seemed disgraceful having not seen some of the more deserving players in the elite list of 30 great players.

While it is impossible for the French outlet to keep everyone on a shortlist, fans around the world believe some of the names in the list are rather undeserving.  

In a world full of uncertainties, a 23-years-old Italian faced an evaluation of unfair means. The footballing world of ethics and values always holds the key to fair means of play. Yet somehow in a somewhat situation, that nature of element seems to get ignored. When the talk of fair play is on the table, that includes both the inside and outside of the football pitch. From a card on the pitch to an award-giving ceremony, the unfair nature of elements is eternally present in the whole world of football. 

Nowadays when the name of Federico Chiesa is heard in public, especially in Italy, the amount of cheer and support he gets is immeasurable. Chiesa has gradually but incredibly made people fall in love with his game and the infinite energy that he possesses on the pitch. This dynamic forward has all that is needed to become a starboy of a whole generation. He has pace. He has skills. He has the mindset. He has the maturity of a humble person. But what does the Italian youngster miss in his dream run?

To get the gist of the question, one must know the context behind it. Federico Chiesa has been instrumental for both club and country in 2020/21 season scoring 17 goals and creating 12. Following the path of his great father Enrico Chiesa, Federico Chiesa led his nation Italy to the final of Uefa Euro 2020 with a fantabulous performance in the 'big games'. 

While the rising star was not in the starting XI of Mancini's team from the beginning of Euro 2020, he showed his class coming off the bench multiple times. Following his super-sub performance in the round of 16 against Austria, Chiesa bagged two straight man of the match awards in the quarter-final and semi-final. It was still inevitable to stop the dynamic forward in the final even after suffering an injury. Just like how Chiesa spearheaded Italy to Euro 2020 final with big performances in significant moments and games, the emerging star did the same for Juventus winning Coppa Italia & Supercoppa Italiana.

However, surprisingly, to some people, Chiesa's heroic and dream year seemed to be not enough. The 23-years-old starboy was not nominated in the top 30 of Ballon d'Or 2021. Although some controversies were rather expected before the announcement, just like Chiesa's exclusion some other brilliant performers got their names snubbed out of this year's most prestigious individual award. Starting with the versatile German defensive midfielder Joshua Kimmich who got overlooked by the French outlet for two straight years to a teammate of Kimmich getting snubbed, fans stated their frustration after the announcement was made official. Thomas Muller with 16 goals, 21 assists and three trophies; Jan Oblak with 25 clean sheets and heroic LaLiga performance to win the league; Achraf Hakimi with 9 goals, 9 assists, 21 clean sheets and a Scudetto for Inter. These are some of the most notable mentions among others getting snubbed out of this year's prestigious award by France Football.

To some extent, fans have always believed the awards presented to players are mostly made of biased votings and decisions. The controversies picked their depth when Henry got snubbed by Nedved in 2003. Although that was quite logical of what Nedved did with his team, the controversies reached their peak after Sneijder and Ribery got snubbed respectively in 2010 and 2013. Is football steadily turning into a business? Are these awards dependent on PR activities? Are these awards in current affairs fair enough? Fans demand answers and answers that themselves would remain independent of controversies.