Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has hit out at FIFA’s Ballon d’Or, saying the award is bad for football.
The individual award was under heavy pressure last year after the voting process was re-opened following Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick for his country in the latter months of 2013, and UEFA president has since claimed that a German World Cup winner should beat the likes of Ronaldo and co-favourite Lionel Messi to the award this time round.
Whilst, Mourinho was quick to point out that football is a team game, he hit out at the award, saying clubs have an obsession with one of their players winning it.
“This kind of trophy, the Ballon d’Or, is not good for football,” the former Real Madrid boss told reporters. “This is why I don’t care about it.
“Sometimes it looks like we are looking for stars, we are looking for some people to be more important than others. And this is not the culture we want in this club.
“I don’t care about it. But it’s there. It’s there as a consequence of the good work the team is doing. And, if they feel that, okay. It’s good for them.
“But the mentality here is not to be worried about that. Even less being obsessed with that.
“When I see these two names, Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard, I think clearly they don’t think about it. They think about the team, about playing well and trying to win matches.”