NORWEGIAN FOOTBALL STAR Ada Hegerberg was crowned the first ever women’s Ballon D’Or winner at this evening’s ceremony in Paris, but the Lyon forward’s moment of history was overshadowed by a question by French DJ Martin Solveig as she accepted the award.
Moments after Hegerberg’s speech in which she praised football’s attempts to grant equality to its female participants and implored “young girls around the world” to “please believe in yourself”, she was asked on-stage by host Solveig — who had earlier danced alongside Kopa award winner Kylian Mbappé — “Est-ce que tu sais twerker? (Do you know how to twerk?)”
Visibly unimpressed by the question, which drew gasps from the assembled audience, the three-time Champions League winner replied, “No,” before turning away.
Martin Solveig : enfin un ballon d'or féminin, il était temps
— nul. (@InsafOo) December 3, 2018
2 minutes later mdr :#BallonDor pic.twitter.com/W6IJ6286nR
French World Cup winner Mbappé had been invited to dance but not asked specifically to ‘twerk’ — a term used to describe the sexually provocative move which involves the thrusting of hips in a low, squatting stance.
Hegerberg later danced briefly with Solveig to Frank Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me To The Moon’, and revealed the DJ approached her afterwards to discuss the incident:
“He came to me afterwards and was really sad that it went that way,” she told the BBC.
I didn’t really think about it at the time, to be honest. I didn’t really consider it a sexual harassment or anything in the moment.
“I was just happy to do the dance [to Sinatra] and win the Ballon d’Or, to be honest.”
Solveig has issued a video statement on Twitter in which he claimed he did not intend to offend anyone.
Sincere apologies to the one I may have offended. My point was : I don’t invite women to twerk but dance on a Sinatra song. Watch the full sequence People who have followed me for 20 years know how respectful I am especially with women pic.twitter.com/pnZX8qvl4R
— Martin Solveig (@martinsolveig) December 3, 2018
He also claimed on Twitter to have ‘explained the buzz’ to the Norwegian whom, he maintained, understood that his question had been posed in jest.
I explained to @AdaStolsmo the buzz and she told me she understood it was a joke. Nevertheless my apologies to anyone who may have been offended. Most importantly congratulations to Ada pic.twitter.com/DATdg0TfQk
— Martin Solveig (@martinsolveig) December 3, 2018
Before Solveig’s contribution, an elated Hegerberg said during her acceptance speech:
“It’s fantastic. It’s incredible. I would like to say a big, huge thank you to France Football for letting us have this opportunity to have this award. It’s a huge step for women’s football.
“And the work that you’ve put down is such an important thing for women’s football, and together we will make a difference.
I would like to end this speech with some words for young girls all over the world… Please, believe in yourselves.
🇳🇴 Olympique Lyonnais player Ada Hegerberg wins the first women's Ballon d'Or of the history! #ballondor pic.twitter.com/VftyQ8VDec
— #ballondor (@francefootball) December 3, 2018
Hegerberg, the consensus best female player in the world over the last couple of years, has scored 157 goals in 127 appearances for Lyon since joining the French giants from Bundesliga outfit Turbine Potsdam in 2014.
She has won three Ligue 1 titles, three Coupes des Frances and three Champions Leagues with Lyon, and has scored 38 goals in 66 appearances for Norway.
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