La Liga President Javier Tebas Offers Unconventional Explanation For Lamine Yamal's Ballon d'Or Defeat: 'If He Had Been Older...'

Ballon d'Or 2025: La Liga president Javier Tebas broke his silence on FC Barcelona youngster Lamine Yamal's Ballon d'Or 2025 defeat to Ousmane Dembele.

The La Liga president provided a weird reason behind Yamal's defeat at the 69th edition of the Ballon d'Or, saying that if the Barcelona wonderkid had been older, he would have received it.

ALSO READ: Ousmane Dembele Races Past Lamine Yamal And Mohamed Salah To Win Ballon d'Or, Here's The Full Ranking List Of The Prestigious Award

Ousmane Dembele Crowned 2025 Men's Ballon d'Or Winner

Earlier on Monday, Paris Saint-Germain and France striker Ousmane Dembele won the 2025 Men's Ballon d'Or award. The French attacker was named ahead of the FC Barcelona and Spain prodigy, Lamine Yamal. Meanwhile, Dembele's PSG teammate, Vitinha, sealed the third place on the list.

While speaking to reporters, La Liga president Javier Tebas said that Yamal was younger, which is why he did not win the title. Tebas added that if the 18-year-old had been 23, then Yamal would have won it.

He added that if Yamal continues to play football at this then the Barcelona youngster will win the Ballon d'Or soon.

"If he had been older than 23, he would have won it, too, I'm sure, but since he was younger, they gave him the other one [Kopa trophy]. If he continues at the level he's at, which seems likely, I think there's no doubt he'll win the Ballon d'Or," Javier Tebas said as quoted by Goal.com.

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Injury Woes Hit Lamine Yamal

Currently, Lamine Yamal is suffering from a groin injury, which has forced him to miss Barcelona's last three fixtures. The 19-year-old youngster sustained the injury during international matches with the Spanish National Team.

It is expected that Yamal will return to the field in early October.

The 18-year-old joined FC Barcelona's senior team in April 2023. Following that, he has played 109 matches and scored 27 goals. In the previous 2024-2025 season, Yamal played 55 matches, scoring 18 goals and making 21 assists.

FC Barcelona will play against Real Oviedo in their upcoming La Liga match on September 26.