Why did Pele never win the Ballon d’Or?

PELE has lifted the biggest awards that football has to offer – but he never got his hands on the Ballon d’Or.

The Brazilian icon has sadly passed away, but he will be remembered forever.

Refer to Caption

Pele will sadly spend Christmas in hospital as he battles colon cancer[/caption]

Pele has always been remembered for his phenomenal goal scoring talent alongside winning THREE World Cups.

But fans have always been puzzled as to why the Brazilian idol was never awarded with football’s most prestigious individual award.

Why did Pele never win the Ballon d’Or?

Pele was widely recognised as the world’s best footballer in his era.

But the three-time World Cup winner doesn’t have a Ballon d’Or trophy in his cabinet as only European players were eligible to win it at that time.

Liberian superstar George Weah was the first non-European player to win the award in 1995.

And Brazilian Ronaldo became the first South American footballer to be crowned with the prestigious trophy in 1997.

What did Pele win instead?

Pele won France football’s biggest individual award instead – Footballer of the Century in 1999.

Reuters

Pele won Footballer of the Century in 1999[/caption]

But in 2016, France Football did a remake of every Ballon d’Or award from 1956 to 1995, with the inclusion of non-European players.

And Pele was voted as the winner for seven of those awards, however, they were unofficial achievements which meant that the Brazilian icon still doesn’t have a Ballon d’Or to his name.