Robert Lewandowski will receive a BALL OF SALT from the Polish town of Wieliczka to ‘recognise him as the No 1 player in the world’, after the Bayern Munich star became ‘the victim of injustice’ when Lionel Messi beat him to the Ballon d’Or
- Robert Lewandowski has scored 53 goals in 42 appearances at club level in 2021
- This is 21 goals more than Lionel Messi, who still got the nod for the Ballon d’Or
- The decision has been criticised by big-name players, including Thomas Muller
- Lewandowski will receive an unusual gift from Wieliczka after finishing second
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski is set to be given an honorary ball of salt by the Polish town of Wieliczka after missing out on the Ballon d’Or this week.
The 33-year-old has had a stellar 2021, having found the net on 53 occasions for Bayern, who won their ninth straight Bundesliga title in May.
However, this was not enough to earn him his first Ballon d’Or, as he was pipped to the individual accolade by Lionel Messi.
Robert Lewandowski won Striker of the Year, but ultimately missed out on the main prize
Instead, the Ballon d’Or went to PSG star Lionel Messi for a record-breaking seventh time
Lewandowski’s club team-mate, Thomas Muller, took to LinkedIn to criticise the decision to hand the award to Messi, and he is not the only one disappointed by the verdict.
Back in Poland, the city councillor of Wieliczka, Kamil Jastrzebski, has vowed to honour Lewandowski in an unusual way after his recent snub.
Referring to the Ballon d’Or vote, Jastrzebski wrote on Twitter, as reported by Goal: ‘There has been a great deal of injustice, and Robert Lewandowski has become its victim.
‘Therefore – as a member of Wieliczka – I propose that the city symbolically announce that Lewy is the best footballer in the world.
Lewandowski has consistently shone for Poland, scoring 74 goals in 128 appearances
‘Wieliczka will actually do something that a few dozen hours ago was supposed to be just a joke to improve the mood, that is, it will symbolically recognise Lewandowski as the No 1 player in the world.
‘There was also a proposal to expand my idea. Some people want to give the captain of our team a Salt Ball. In the past, salt was called “white gold”, so it also has a historical and geographical basis.’
Lewandowski was also unfortunate to not win the Ballon d’Or in 2020, having led Bayern to Champions League glory only for the organisers of the annual ceremony to cancel the event due to the Covid-19 pandemic.