She won the award last night.
Ada Hegerberg made history last night as the first winner of the newly awarded women’s Ballon D’Or – and moments after she received her award, she was asked “do you know how to twerk?”.
The 23-year-old Lyon and Norway striker has scored more than 250 career goals, with the award recognising her as the best player in the world.
WHAT A NIGHT ⭐️ Photo: Ivar Waage Johansen pic.twitter.com/bDfbUuAYrI
— Ada S Hegerberg (@AdaStolsmo) December 4, 2018
She said at the ceremony:
“I want to say thanks to my team-mates because this would not have been possible without them, my coach or our president Jean-Michel Aulas.
“I also want to thank France Football. This is a huge step for women’s football.”
🇳🇴 Olympique Lyonnais player Ada Hegerberg wins the first women's Ballon d'Or of the history! #ballondor pic.twitter.com/VftyQ8VDec
— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) December 3, 2018
However, her moment on stage was almost ruined as French DJ Martin Sloveig asked her if she would want to ‘twerk’ in celebration after her win.
Yes, really.
Thankfully, Hegerberg totally shut up down in a blunt-but-effective response.
The moment caused a wave of backlash online, with many branding the DJ’s comments “a disgrace.”
What a disgrace. The pinnacle of Hegerberg’s career and she has to deal with this misogyny. “Do you know how to twerk” is never an appropriate question, especially for the best female footballer in the world. Ballon d’Or keeps diminishing its credibility more and more. https://t.co/2IVjzUUu2G
— EiF (@EiFSoccer) December 3, 2018
Martin Solveig really asked Ada Hegerberg, the first ever Ballon D'Or winner, to twerk. The absolute disrespect bruh. pic.twitter.com/Mtc5DBjS7a
— Aaron West (@oeste) December 3, 2018
Ada Hegerberg (@AdaStolsmo) won the first-ever female #ballondor (best soccer player in the world) today. After her acceptance speech, she was asked to twerk on stage. Ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/bh5D3AWAOw
— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) December 3, 2018
Solveig issued a video response to the backlash, insisting that he has always has respected women.
He wrote alongside it:
“Sincere apologies to anyone I may have offended. My point was I don’t invite women to twerk but dance on a Sinatra song.
“Watch the full sequence people who have followed me for 20 years know how respectful I am especially with women.”
I explained to @AdaStolsmo the buzz and she told me she understood it was a joke. Nevertheless my apologies to anyone who may have been offended. Most importantly congratulations to Ada pic.twitter.com/DATdg0TfQk
— Martin Solveig (@martinsolveig) December 3, 2018
Hegerberg later spoke about the controversy with The Guardian, where she said:
“He came to me afterwards and was really sad that it went that way. I didn’t really consider it sexual harassment or anything in the moment. I was just happy to do the dance and win the Ballon d’Or.
“It’s incredible. This is a great motivation to continue working hard and we will continue to work together to win more titles. I wanted to end with some words for young girls around the world: believe in yourselves.”
20×20 is an ambitious two-year long initiative to better promote and champion women in sport.
With the tagline of “if she can’t see it, she can’t be it,” the 20×20 movement has three targets to reach by 2020:
- 20 percent more media coverage of women in sport
- 20 percent more female participation
- 20 percent more attendance at women’s competitions and events
And at Maximum Media, we’re proud that Her and SportsJOE is backing the 20X20 movement as official digital media partners.
