Thierry Henry breaks silence on Kate Scott and Lamine Yamal controversy at Ballon d’Or ceremony | Football

Thierry Henry has addressed his controversial performance as co-host of the Ballon d’Or awards on Monday night after he was criticised for his remarks towards fellow presenter Kate Scott and Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal.

Harry Kane became the first Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or in 25 years as Henry and Scott presented the awards ceremony at the Palladium Theatre in London.

Former Arsenal and France striker Henry set an awkward tone early on during the two-hour long show as he teased Yamal about not yet winning the Ballon d’Or, before he pulled up Scott on her pronunciation of Brazil legend Socrates.

Henry put Yamal in an awkward position on stage when the Barcelona winger collected the Young Talent of the Year award for the third year in a row.

As Yamal stood on stage, Henry made a reference to the 19-year-old’s desire to win the Ballon d’Or trophy by saying: ‘It’s your third one right? But is it the one you really wanted to win?’

Henry has now attempted to clarify his comments towards Yamal in a post on Instagram.

‘I’ve seen a lot of people talking about the Ballon d’Or night, so I want to clarify some stuff for some people that got really excited for actually nothing,’ Henry said.

‘First and foremost with Lamine Yamal I wasn’t checking his ego at all, I just thought that as the third time that he is winning the trophy I’d ask him if that’s the one that he really wanted.

‘And I brought out a laugh out of people – we all know what he wanted, unfortunately he didn’t get it.

‘I’m a big fan of Lamine Yamal I was not checking his ego at all. That you didn’t like the joke I can understand but please don’t do that.

‘He’s actually one of the players that I would pay to watch, I love him, so I was just asking if it is the one he really wants because I knew that the winner prize was coming after and unfortunately he didn’t win it, because he is a hell of a player who I enjoy to watch.’

Henry was also at the centre of another awkward moment when he attempted to correct Scott on her pronunciation of Brazil legend Socrates, whose name is used for the award to recognise the best humanitarian work carried out by a footballer.

Scottish author, Andrew Downie, a Brazilian football expert who wrote the book ‘Doctor Socrates: Footballer, Philosopher, Legend’, criticised Henry for his interaction with Scott.

‘Thierry Henry is rude and incorrect. She pronounced it properly. I know, I wrote a whole book about the man,’ Downie wrote on X.

Henry also addressed that incident in his video as he said: ‘Now let’s move on to Kate. Kate was with me on that joke and you can ask her by the way, she did it on purpose to say ‘Socrat-ees’, and I had to say ‘Socrates’.

‘Again that you didn’t like the joke I understand, but please stop saying I disrespected Kate, I would never do that, and you can ask her people. She was on the joke with me, she did ‘Socrat-ees’ on purpose and I said ‘Socrates’, so please stop inventing stories.’

Scott also commented on Henry’s post as she wrote: ‘…no disrespect to speak of.’

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