Paolo Condò, the Italian juror at the 2023 Ballon d’Or, explained why he voted for Leo Messi and picked Khvicha Kvaratskhelia over his Napoli teammate Victor Osimhen and Real Madrid ace Jude Bellingham.
Condò, 64, is one of the most experienced and well-known journalists in the country. He worked for a long time as a reporter for La Gazzetta dello Sport, and he’s now a pundit for La Repubblica and Sky Sport Italia.
He was among the jurors at the 2023 Ballon d’Or, which consisted of 100 journalists from the top 100 FIFA-ranked countries.
In an article published by La Repubblica, he explained that with the new formula, the Ballon d’Or jurors must judge players for the last season and not for the last year, so only games played in 2022-23 counted for the 2023 edition.
Each juror could pick five players each. The first choice would get six points, the second one four, and then three, two and one for the last three players named.
Condò voted for Messi, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappé, Rodri and Kvaratskhelia and explained his choice like this: “First of all, Messi, because the World Cup is above everything. Second, Haaland because with his incredible finishing abilities, he led Manchester City to a treble, including the Champions League.
“Mbappé completed my podium. He beats Haaland in terms of aesthetics, but he still hasn’t found a club that can bring him to reach top results.
“Jude Bellingham was not among my choices. His incredible start to the season at Real Madrid is part of the material that will be scrutinised for next season’s edition (and the Englishman will be included).
“The last two picks were Rodri and Kvara. Rodri is another great product of Guardiola, a technically gifted central midfielder who became the ‘point of equilibrium’ at Manchester City thanks to the Catalan coach.
“Napoli, alongside Arsenal, were the most interesting club in Europe for a long time last season and I picked Kvara instead of Osimhen – who equally deserved it – because of the sudden climb from an almost-unknown status to Ballon d’Or candidate.”