Lamine Yamal's father reacts to Ballon d'Or snub: 'The biggest moral damage done to a human being'

The Barcelona star's father said something 'very strange' happened and called it 'the biggest moral damage done to a human being'

By Francesco Porzio

Sep 23, 2025 at 12:15 pm ET • 2 min read

Getty Images

On Monday, Ousmane Dembele won the 2025 Ballon d'Or, the most prestigious individual soccer award in the world, and the father of Barcelona star Lamine Yamal did not hold back with his outrage. The PSG striker took the stage at the end of the event that took place in Paris and thanked the crowd and the journalists who voted him as the best male soccer player of the year, but as always, not everyone agreed with the decision. Among those was Mounir Nasraou, Yamal's dad, who spoke after the ceremony to Spanish TV show El Chiringuito.

The Barcelona star ended up in second place but also won the Kopa Trophy as the best young soccer player of the year, but Yamal's father questioned the decision and then some.

"I think this is the biggest, I won't say theft, but moral damage done to a human being because I believe Lamine Yamal is the best player in the world by far, by a huge margin. It's not because he's my son but because he's the best player in the world. I believe there are no rivals. Lamine is Lamine Yamal. Something very strange has happened here. Next year, there will be a Spanish Ballon d'Or winner."

💣 EL PADRE DE LAMINE, EN EXCLUSIVA con @elchiringuitotv:

❌ "Ha pasado algo muy raro, es el MAYOR DAÑO MORAL a un SER HUMANO".

🔝 "Lamine es el mejor del mundo con mucha diferencia". pic.twitter.com/xfxCEWMt9E
— El Chiringuito TV (@elchiringuitotv) September 22, 2025

On the other hand, it was an emotional night for Dembele and his family. The PSG winger was born and raised in France; his father is from Mali and his mother Fatima is Mauritanian-Senegalese, from the Mauritanian village of Waly Diantang. Fatima acknowledged her son's African heritage in a video shared on social media, saying the family plans to take the Ballon d'Or to different parts of the continent to celebrate.

Both figure to be in the conversation for Ballon d'Or next season as well with Dembele's PSG a contender to win UCL and his national team France a legit threat at the 2026 World Cup. The same goes for Yamal's Barcelona and the Spanish national team.

Yamal led Spain to Euro 2024 glory just last year.

Way too early 2026 Ballon d'Or Power Rankings: Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland's fast start makes them favorites

James Benge