“It’d be like running an Oscars or a Golden Globes, without having any females present,” remarked Emma Hayes regarding the timing of the recently held 2024 Ballon d’Or, which clashed with the FIFA Women’s international window. As a result, the USWNT boss and many female stars were unable to attend the prestigious ceremony. Then again, underlining the biases, Hayes claims that ‘this is normal stuff’ for the women’s game.

Not to mention that they already don’t receive the recognition they deserve. So failure to make up for the awards was yet another missed opportunity for the women to equally showcase themselves on the same stage as the men. “I just feel for some of the players that they have to make that choice; well, they can’t even make the choice,” began Hayes during her recent chat with Gary Neville and Rebecca Lowe on The Overlap US: It’s Called Soccer.

The 48-year-old expressed her discontent over the fact that a few of the nominated stars who were on international duty couldn’t get on a plane for Thétre du Chtelet on October 29. Hayes rather called Spai lucky, who were able to send Aitana Bonmati and other nominated stars to the neighboring country France. “But I don’t think they should be put in that position,” she continued.

“It should be thought out, and if not, don’t have the award, don’t give the awards out. Just say ‘We’re going to do the men’s Ballon d’Or now, we’ll do the women’s [later],'” added Emma, explaining how hard it is for some of the players to give up on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to such a prestigious event.

Hayes herself was one of the recipients of her inaugural Ballon d’Or for Johan Cruyff Best Women’s Coach award. But sadly, she couldn’t savor the joy of accepting and lifting the award in front of the whole world. While Emma doesn’t blame the stakeholders, it’s rather frustrating for her to see the kind of message that is being sent on behalf of the women’s Ballon d’Or being conducted without its players present.

“You have to expect that it’s going to look a little bit awkward than one that I’m sure will be rectified but I hate to say it, this is pretty normal for us in women’s sports. This is normal stuff,” concluded Hayes.

Indeed, a concerning issue that the former Blues manager believes makes the women’s game look worse, but certainly not more than what Hayes calls another big problem for the women’s Ballon d’Or.

Women’s game still ‘not getting things right’, admits Emma Hayes

The English boss couldn’t have been more grateful for winning the award on behalf of Chelsea and the USWNT, let alone being happy for Triple Espresso, a.k.a. the trio of Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith, and Mallory Swanson, who had made the top 10 finish, while congratulating Alyssa Naeher and Lindsey Horan for making the cut in the 30-player list as well.

However, Hayes echoed the soccer world’s frustration over seeing a player like Naomi Girma get snubbed. For these reasons, she admitted, “We’re still not getting all of those things right in the women’s game.”

Additionally, she also described the Ballon d’Or as a “subjective award,” insisting on how they select the players. “I know that 50 journalists vote for it, but are those 50 journalists watching women’s football at the same level they’re watching the men’s game? Probably not, but they also might not be able to as well.”

This indeed looks to be quite a concerning situation for the women’s game. Let’s see whether the concerned authorities are able to do something about this.