Ballon d'Or: "People tried to convince me to vote against Hakimi", reveals Moroccan journalist

Moroccan journalist Mustapha Badri, a Ballon d'Or 2026 voter, says he was pressured to vote against Achraf Hakimi but ranked the PSG defender first anyway.

Mustapha Badri, director general of Al Mountakhab and one of 100 international journalists voting for the 2026 Ballon d'Or, ranked Achraf Hakimi first in his ballot—the only voter to do so. Hakimi finished outside the top three in the final standings, with Harry Kane winning ahead of Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal.

In an interview with Africafoot on Saturday, Badri revealed he had been contacted by unnamed individuals attempting to influence his vote against Hakimi in favour of another player. "Certain people contacted me to try to influence me and convince me to vote against Achraf Hakimi in favour of another player, whose name I prefer not to mention. I did not give in to these requests, but this experience shows that there are attempts at influence around this type of ballot," he said. He described the pressure as part of a broader pattern of lobbying by influence groups seeking to sway journalists' choices away from "strict sporting logic."

Badri maintained that Hakimi deserved to win the award, describing him as "not an ordinary player" but "an excellent defender and also an attacker with remarkable technical qualities." The revelations come as France Football's parent company Amaury announced on Saturday it had filed a complaint over suspected fraudulent betting linked to a possible leak of Ballon d'Or results.