United States women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes has criticized the Ballon d’Or ceremony being held during a women’s FIFA window.
Hayes picked up the inaugural Ballon d’Or for best women’s coach on Monday but, along with most players and coaches from the women’s game, she was not in Paris to receive the award alongside the rest of the soccer world.
“I mean, it’d be like running an Oscars or a Golden Globes, without having any females present,” Hayes said on Tuesday from Louisville, Kentucky, where she is with the USWNT for the last of three games in a week. “It just wouldn’t happen. And I think that all too often it’s an afterthought, to be honest with you.”
Hayes said she is honored to win the award and she is happy to be with her team right now in Louisville, where the USWNT takes on Argentina on Wednesday.
“But I think for those players and coaches, it is the one industry moment they get recognized, and it’s disappointing. I did speak to the organizers about it, and they said that that is something that will be changing in the future. Let’s hope that is the case.”
This year marked the first time that the Ballon d’Or ceremony included coaching awards. Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti won the men’s coaching award.
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