Ballon d'Or Betting Scandal: $200K Winnings on Exact Top-Five Order Probed by France Football and Police

France Football, organisers of the Ballon d'Or, have launched an investigation into a series of suspicious bets that correctly predicted the exact top-five finishing order of this year's award, generating nearly $200,000 (£149,000) in winnings. The bets were placed on Polymarket, a US-based cryptocurrency prediction market, with 12 accounts wagering over $264,000 before Monday's ceremony. The extraordinary accuracy has raised serious concerns about a potential leak of confidential results, prompting France Football to contact police. This scandal threatens the integrity of football's most prestigious individual honour, as authorities seek to determine how bettors could have known the outcome in advance. The investigation will likely scrutinise Polymarket's user data and betting patterns to trace the source of any leak, with potential legal consequences for those involved. For now, the football world awaits answers on how one of its biggest nights was allegedly compromised.