BALLON D’OR WINNER Ada Hegerberg maintains that her moment of history was not ruined by host Martin Solveig asking if she knew how to ‘twerk’ as she collected the award.
The Norwegian striker became the first-ever recipient of the female version of the prestigious award, which crowns the best footballer on the planet.
French DJ Solveig had previously asked Best Young Player Kylian Mbappé to dance with him on stage, the PSG youngster briefly obliging, but he invited Hegerberg specifically to twerk, drawing gasps from the assembled crowd and widespread derision.
Lyon forward Hegerberg remains magnanimous in her assessment of the incident, however.
“I was so happy to win the Ballon D’Or,” she told CNN.
I didn’t feel harassed or something. Obviously, I was expecting maybe a question about my football skills or how the feeling was to stand there and win a Ballon D’Or.
“But in the end, I was just really happy to get the award and wasn’t quite thinking about what’s going on in the media and on social media.”
Hegerberg’s delight was partially due to the women’s award existing at all; the men’s award has been dished out annually since 1956, whereas female players had to wait until this year to be officially crowned the world’s best.
The 23-year-old believes that recognition is long overdue.
“I mean, it has a huge impact. In the end, it’s all about respect, I feel. It’s about respect for women and men that work hard to achieve big things in their sport.
Men and women work hard. Women work as hard as men and should be acknowledged in the same way. We’re in 2018 and equality should be the first thing we discuss. So, having a Ballon D’Or for both females and males is a completely natural thing to me.
“That’s why I’m just so happy that it’s finally there.”
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