Koulibaly slams the organizers of the 2021 Ballon d'Or for snubbing a Chelsea player.

Kalidou Koulibaly, a Senegalese defender, has criticized the Ballon d'Or organizers for failing to include his countryman, Chelsea's Edouard Mendy, in their 30-man shortlist.

 Mendy had an outstanding rookie season in the Premier League, culminating in the Blues' 1-0 Champions League victory over Manchester City.

After making his senior debut with lower division Cherbourg ten years ago, the £22 million signing from Rennes has had a meteoric ascent. 

After that, he played for Marseille's B squad, as well as Reims and Rennes. 

Mendy, according to Koulibaly, should have been on the Ballon d'Or shortlist, which was revealed last week. 

"It's a terrible pity Edou isn't among them [on the list]."

He is the first African to win the Champions League as a goalie. 

"We must keep working and moving forward." To be well judged, we must accomplish twice [the effort] of some others.

"Edou is a very upbeat individual. We discussed it as a group. He'll keep fighting to be a part of it. After Senegal's 4-1 win against Namibia in a World Cup qualifier, he told reporters, "He has a position among these 30 players for me."