"It was a political choice" - Serie A star claims he should have won Ballon d'Or and finished ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo 

Serie A side Salernitana's star Franck Ribery has claimed that he should've won the Ballon d'Or in 2013 ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The Frenchman has branded the selection of the winner from the year as a 'political choice.'

Ribery won the treble with Bayern Munich in 2013, finishing a clean sweep of the DFB-Pokal, Bundesliga and the Champions League. He played a crucial role in all three competitions and even assisted Arjen Robben's winning goal in the Champions League final in the 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund.

Ribery struck 11 goals and made 23 assists from 43 appearances during the 2012-13 season and was a Ballon d'Or favorite.

However, he ended up losing to Ronaldo, who didn't win any major silverware that year, with Messi settling for second place.

Ribery still feels to date that he was more worthy of winning the award and that voting time was extended before the award was presented. Speaking to Italian news outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport, he said (via Football Italia):

“It was unfair, it was an incredible season for me and I should have won it. They extended the time for votes, and something strange happened. I felt that it was a political choice."

FIFA extended the voting deadline from November 13 to November 20 ahead of that year's ceremony, citing inadequate responses from eligible voters.

Ribery was the bookies' favorite to win the Ballon d'Or, but ultimately fell just 238 votes short of eventual winner Ronaldo and 78 behind second-placed Messi.

The 39-year-old left Bayern in 2019 after 12 fruitful years, winning 23 titles. He made a mammoth 425 appearances across competitions, scoring 124 goals and giving 182 assists. He then joined Fiorentina, where he played for another two years before signing for Salernitana.

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Karim Benzema is the favorite to win the 2022 Ballon d'Or

Speaking of the Ballon d'Or, Karim Benzema, a former international teammate of Ribery, is the current favorite for this year's prize.

The 34-year-old striker played a key role in Real Madrid's double swoop of the La Liga and Champions League trophies last season, finishing as the top scorer in both competitions (27 and 15 goals respectively).

With 44 goals from 46 games, he oversaw his best individual campaign so far, stepping up for his team even in the most crucial moments.

He faces stern competition from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, both of whom enjoyed fine campaigns with Liverpool last season, individually and collectively.

After scoring another half-a-century of goals last season, Robert Lewandowski is in the race too, but he's an outside favorite at best, having lifted just the Bundesliga title last season.