Since the very beginning, when the two organizations held their awards separately, this controversy had always existed. Now that the two had merged, the problem remained unresolved.
FIFA and France Football Magazine provided two different sets of criteria. However, as the German Bild stated, in previous years, there might have been disputes due to differing criteria, but this year was different. Whether by FIFA's standards or France Football Magazine's, and whether looking at individual or team performance, shouldn't Wang Shuo win the award?
"Why did Blatter suddenly bring up the World Cup? Is FIFA trying to temporarily add other rigid conditions to the Golden Ball Award's selection criteria? If so, shouldn't they have notified everyone in advance, rather than mentioning it at the critical moment of the selection? If not, then what does Blatter mean? FIFA must give the public a reasonable explanation!"
