Issues 4th December 2018 by Cara Croke

The First Female Ballon D’Or Winner Was Asked To Twerk On Stage While Accepting Her Award

The comment came seconds after Ada Hegerberg made an empowering speech about sexism in football.

The internet went into a meltdown last night when Ada Hegerberg, the first ever winner of the women’s Ballon d’Or, was asked to ‘twerk’ on stage after receiving her award.

The Lyon and Norway striker gave an empowering speech as she called on girls around the world to believe in themselves, and said: “I want to say thanks to my team-mates because this would not have been possible without them, my coach or our president Jean-Michel Aulas. I also want to thank France Football. This is a huge step for women’s football.”

Then, as she was leaving the stage, French DJ and co-host Martin Solveig asked her if she could twerk, but the three-time women’s Champions League winner abruptly said “no” before walking away.

The people of the internet couldn’t help but express their disgust at the shameful moment, taking to Twitter to complain about the comment.

Martin Solveig tweeted shortly after the ceremony, saying he had apologised to Ada for the remark.

“I explained to [Ada] and she told me she understood it was a joke,” he wrote. “Nevertheless, my apologies to anyone who may have been offended. Most importantly, congratulations to Ada.”

After the event, the 23-year-old told reporters: “He came to me afterwards and was really sad that it went that way. I didn’t really consider it sexual harassment or anything in the moment. I was just happy to do the dance and win the Ballon d’Or.”

All we can say is: disappointing, yet not surprising.
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