Major error spotted during Ballon d'Or ceremony that caused embarrassing moment for organisers

The Ballon d'Or ceremony in Paris saw seven trophies handed out - but there was a major error when it came to awarding the women's Ballon d'Or prize.

Lionel Messi and Aitana Bonmati took the headlines as the winner of the men's and women's Ballon d'Or respectively, while Manchester City and Barcelona won the men's and women's club of the year as a result of their respective Champions League triumphs.

Erling Haaland took home the Gerd Muller Trophy for the highest goalscorer across Europe, while Vinicius Junior received the Socrates Award for his humanitarian work.

And Aston Villa and Argentina shot-stopper Emiliano Martinez won the Yashin Trophy for the best goalkeeper in the world football.

Each award winner was welcomed on to the stage by a special guest presenter, with David Beckham presenting Messi with the Ballon d'Or award.

Eden Hazard presented the Kopa Trophy to Jude Bellingham, while Gary Lineker gave the Gerd Muller Trophy to fellow sharpshooter Haaland.

The women's Ballon d'Or, meanwhile, was presented by tennis legend Novak Djokovic, who was invited to Paris to take part in the ceremony.

But a major error occurred when it was time for the Serbian to hand the trophy over to Bonmati - there was no trophy.

You can see the clip below.

AITANA PILOTA D'OR 😍👏 pic.twitter.com/hb33Yu91HO

— FC Barcelona Femení (@FCBfemeni) October 30, 2023

Instead, there was an awkward moment where Djokovic looked over to where he expected the trophy to be, only to see that it wasn't there.

The Serbian instead stared at the podium for a few seconds, before Bonmati moved over to begin her speech.

Organisers had to rush to bring the trophy onto the stage, and the Spaniard was eventually presented with the women's Ballon d'Or while conducting her speech.

After calling Barca her 'lifetime club', the World Cup-winning midfielder ended her speech with a powerful message: "As role models we have a responsibility on and off the pitch.

"We should be more than athletes and keep leading by example and fighting together for a better, peaceful and equal world."

SPORTbible are on WhatsApp! We've launched a dedicated news channel to send you the latest news, features and plenty more directly on WhatsApp and all you need to do to sign up is click through to our one-way broadcast channel here for 'SPORTbible News' to appear in the 'Updates' tab on your WhatsApp.