Chapter 1 Aftermath

After Chen Yingxiong left, Messi readjusted his emotions and delivered his acceptance speech. He thanked his club and the Argentinian national team.

However, his acceptance speech was short and contained nothing particularly special. Aside from expressing gratitude, there wasn't much else to say. Judging from his awkward expression, he wasn't in the mood to elaborate further.

Chen Yingxiong's outburst had turned what should have been a grand awards ceremony into an absurd joke. Everyone's thoughts had shifted away from the ceremony itself. Many hearts followed Chen Yingxiong's departing figure.

Even while Messi was speaking, some people were whispering to each other below the stage, exchanging their opinions on the sudden turn of events. Some felt that Chen Yingxiong had gone too far, while others expressed sympathy and understanding.

But in any case, they all agreed on one thing: FIFA had completely lost face this time. Chen Yingxiong had made them look very bad.

In fact, since last year's FIFA Ballon d'Or awards, the media had expressed many doubts about the fairness and impartiality of FIFA's selection process. But no one had gone as far as Chen Yingxiong—in a live broadcast viewed around the world, he slapped FIFA in the face, showing them no respect and exposing their ugly side to the entire world.

One could imagine how excited the world's media would be to amplify this incident tomorrow…

Thinking of this, everyone lost interest in what Messi was saying on stage and just wanted to see the show tomorrow.

Thus, a ceremony that was supposed to be full of elegance ended in a hasty manner. Although all the rituals were performed, it was clear to everyone that even the hosts and Blatter, who were trying to maintain their composure, were somewhat absent-minded…

What awaited Chen Yingxiong?

A global ban?

That wouldn't make sense. There was no precedent for a global ban for criticizing FIFA. No matter how much power FIFA wielded, they couldn't do something so outrageous while everyone was watching them closely. The people at FIFA weren't fools…

A fine and a strongly worded response statement were more likely.

But Chen Yingxiong wasn't afraid of fines. He had plenty of money now. And no matter how strongly worded the statement was, it wouldn't hurt him in the slightest.

Thinking about it that way, Chen Yingxiong hadn't really lost anything, except for a silver ball award…

According to the data later released by the host, Messi had only narrowly defeated Chen Yingxiong, with the slight advantage calculated to the decimal point… Messi received 35% of the vote, while Chen Yingxiong received 34.48%…

Such a slight advantage also proved that the media's previous speculation was reliable. Everyone had indeed favored Chen Yingxiong to win, and Messi's victory was a stroke of luck.

※※※

"You really shouldn't have done that, Yingxiong…" After returning to the hotel, the two packed their things and rushed back to Liverpool overnight. On the plane back to Liverpool, Niang was still blaming Chen Yingxiong for being too impulsive.

Chen Yingxiong raised his head and snorted from his nose: "If they are unjust to me, then I will naturally be disloyal to them! I absolutely don't believe that I am inferior to Messi. Do I even need to mention FIFA's shady dealings? You certainly know better than I do, right?"

Niang was speechless.

He did know very well, otherwise he wouldn't be able to deal with the various levels of FIFA…

"But you've essentially slapped them in the face. Do you think they'll let you off easily?" He hesitated for a moment before saying.

"Let them do whatever they want. Are they going to give me a global ban? If they dare, I'll appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. I'm not afraid of them!"

"A global ban is unlikely… but you've left Blatter and the others with a very bad impression. I'm afraid they'll make things difficult for you in the future… Those awards under their name, I'm afraid…"

Chen Yingxiong chuckled: "Afraid of what? Just watch me use absolute strength to shatter all plots and schemes!"

"Going against FIFA is very difficult, Yingxiong."

"I don't do things that are easy."

Niang shook his head and smiled wryly. Chen Yingxiong's personality was both lovable and hateful. "But don't worry, Liverpool Football Club will stand with you no matter what."

Chen Yingxiong punched him in the arm: "Good brother! That's enough! I'll treat you to a brothel!"

"Screw your sister!" Niang was speechless at this kind of gratitude.

Chen Yingxiong laughed: "I don't have a sister! Alright, I'll treat you to a drink, is that okay?"

"That's more like it… Who cares about your drink? Whether you treat me or not, I will support you, both from a personal and professional point of view. Anyway, you don't have to worry about this matter. No matter what FIFA's next move is, just focus on playing your game. I'll clean up the mess for you. If it really comes to going to court, the club will hire the best lawyer in England for you. Don't worry about that! But I don't want these messy things to affect your performance on the field. You have to know that Liverpool can only rely on you now!"

Hearing Niang say this, Chen Yingxiong placed his hand on the other's shoulder and squeezed it hard.

"We Chinese have a saying… how does it go?" He frowned and thought for a long time, finally blurting out, "Damn, I forgot! Anyway, you're good to me, and I'll be good to you! Liverpool is good to me, and I'll be good to Liverpool!"

Niang smiled. This was indeed in line with Chen Yingxiong's style.

*If they treat me like an ordinary person, I will repay them as an ordinary person; if they treat me like a national hero, I will repay them as a national hero!*

※※※

As expected, the next day, the entire world's sports media was discussing Chen Yingxiong's embarrassment of Blatter in public.

Television news, the Internet, newspapers, magazines… were all rushing to tell the fans about this matter, employing a carpet-bombing propaganda strategy, only allowing you to say you didn't watch it, but absolutely not allowing you to not see it.

Many newspapers published a photo like this: Chen Yingxiong, head held high and chest out, striding off the stage, his face filled with anger and unwillingness. Not far from him, Blatter's face was full of shock and embarrassment. Messi, at the very edge of the photo, was somewhat blurry due to the focus, but his surprise was still visible.

The photo captured the scene very well, vividly displaying the expressions of the three people within a limited space. No words were needed to let the audience know what had happened.

The media was divided into two camps: those who supported Chen Yingxiong and those who denounced him.

The English and Chinese media were the most steadfast in their support of Chen Yingxiong.

It was understandable that the Chinese media supported Chen Yingxiong, as he was Chinese. Would the Chinese media not support their own people and instead be traitors?

In China, some media revealed that Camacho and the national team captain Li Weifeng had the exact same voting results. Camacho voted for Casillas, Xavi, and Iniesta, and so did Li Weifeng.

Reporters found Li Weifeng, who was very surprised by this: "I absolutely did not vote for those three people. The first person I chose was Yingxiong, and the second was Messi… I don't know why this happened… Don't ask me, I really don't know what's going on…"

In fact, everyone knew what was going on, but it was difficult to say—FIFA must have tampered with the voting results.

This was nothing new. They had done it once last year, and going further back, FIFA was a repeat offender…

※※※

England's support for Chen Yingxiong had many considerations. In addition to Chen Yingxiong being a popular star in the English Premier League, the English media had always had a strained relationship with FIFA. When Terry and Chen Yingxiong were embroiled in racial discrimination rumors, Blatter made inappropriate remarks about racial discrimination, which the English media seized upon and relentlessly attacked, demanding Blatter's resignation.

How could Blatter resign? He issued a noncommittal apology and stopped responding.

Although the English media couldn't really force Blatter to resign, they had the ability to annoy him.

Therefore, the English media had been committed to finding trouble for FIFA, revealing Blatter's alleged bribery in 1998, disclosing the behind-the-scenes dealings of FIFA World Cup hosting rights, the "shameful misjudgment" in the match between South Africa, Germany and England in the World Cup, and the grudges between Blatter, Hammam, and Johansson…

Anyway, they were all things that made FIFA very upset.

Now, Chen Yingxiong's unexpected loss in the Ballon d'Or selection gave the English media an excellent opportunity to launch another attack on FIFA.

Chen Yingxiong fired the "shot heard 'round the world," and they quickly followed up, with a barrage of criticism coming to FIFA in various forms.

The English fully demonstrated their British dry humor in this matter, ridiculing and scolding in various ways. The readers also found it very interesting.

Of course, various calm analysis experts were also indispensable. Through their articles, people not only joined in the fun but also understood why Chen Yingxiong was so angry.

"We later learned that Messi's advantage over Yingxiong was only 0.52 percentage points! Everyone can imagine how suffocating it is to be defeated by such a slight margin… The key issue is not this number, but the things behind this number… As we all know, the FIFA Ballon d'Or selection method is that journalist votes, national team coach votes, and national team captain votes each account for one-third. Why did the media previously say that Yingxiong could win the award? Because they did indeed give their five-point votes to Chen Yingxiong. In the votes from the sports media, Chen Yingxiong received 15% of the support rate, ranking first, Xavi's support rate was 7.53%, ranking second, and Messi's support rate was 5.96%, ranking third. That is to say, if the selection was based on the old European Ballon d'Or model, Chen Yingxiong would be the absolute champion. But with the addition of FIFA's rules… the situation changed. In general, Yingxiong's reputation among national team coaches and captains is still not as good as Messi's. His outstanding performance in the Champions League did not change everyone's preconceptions—Messi received a 9.72% support rate from national team coaches and an 8.55% support rate from national team captains…"

"Is this fair to Chen Yingxiong? In any case, Chen Yingxiong won the Serie A title and the Champions League title in the past 2011. In the absence of a World Cup tournament, the performance in the club should be the most important standard. And what about Messi? Apart from a La Liga title, he has nothing. His performance in the Copa America with the national team should even have a deduction effect… Chen Yingxiong won the Serie A top scorer, which is his third consecutive season to win this honor. He has also won the Champions League top scorer for two consecutive seasons. It should be noted that this was achieved after he missed all the group stage matches. He also broke the single-season goal record after the Champions League reform… Doesn't such an outstanding performance deserve a Ballon d'Or? What's even more tragic is that Yingxiong conquered the world media with his performance, but he did not win the support of those stubborn national team captains and coaches…"

"The development level of football is not the same around the world. What kind of votes can you expect from the coaches and captains of Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands… these football wilderness areas? Their votes have the exact same effect as the votes of football powerhouses such as Italy, Spain, Germany, and England! This voting method has a natural hidden danger: players with greater fame are more likely to be favored! Although Chen Yingxiong had an amazing performance in the past season, he is a rising star. His fame is obviously not as great as Messi's worldwide…"

"After a year, Sneijder's tragedy is repeated again. Such an absurd result has appeared for two consecutive years. Shouldn't FIFA reflect on this?! Why did UEFA set up another 'UEFA Ballon d'Or'? Does Blatter really think that they can arbitrarily control the voting candidates and votes, so they are unscrupulous? But people all over the world are watching them, watching the farce they are playing!"

"On the surface, FIFA's merger of the 'Ballon d'Or' is a strong alliance, and the introduction of journalist votes has also added more fairness. But in reality, the votes of the old 'World Footballer of the Year' account for two-thirds of the merged Ballon d'Or, which is an absolute majority. FIFA still has the dominant power. Whoever they want to win will win. The Ballon d'Or is no longer the highest honor that recognizes players' performance in the past year, but has become a packaging tool needed for commercial promotion!"

"Last year, Sneijder missed the top three, and Xavi narrowly lost to Messi, but both players maintained sufficient restraint and demeanor. But this time, FIFA played Chen Yingxiong. What kind of person is Yingxiong? He is a damn character! He did not give FIFA any face and slapped them with unwillingness and anger in front of the world in a live broadcast! As an observer, what I want to say is—well done, Yingxiong!!"