Henry defends Ballon d'Or remarks about Yamal, Kane and Scott

Thierry Henry has responded to criticism of his hosting of Monday's Ballon d'Or ceremony, defending remarks involving Lamine Yamal, winner Harry Kane and co-presenter Kate Scott. According to BBC Sport, the former Arsenal forward addressed the reaction on social media on Wednesday, saying his comments had been intended as jokes and disputing claims that he had shown disrespect.

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The criticism included an exchange with Barcelona's Yamal, who collected the young player of the year award for a third consecutive time. Henry asked whether that was the prize the Spaniard had really wanted to win, prompting an audible response from the audience. In his subsequent explanation, Henry denied that he had been trying to put Yamal in his place. He acknowledged that viewers might not have liked the joke while stressing his admiration for the player.

Henry also addressed his correction of Scott's pronunciation of the name of Brazilian great Socrates. He said the exchange had been planned between the two presenters and rejected the suggestion that he had disrespected his CBS Sports colleague. His account was that Scott had deliberately used the pronunciation that prompted his response, rather than being unexpectedly corrected on stage.

The name came up in connection with the Socrates Award, which Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka received for humanitarian and charitable work. Henry's defence of the exchange centred on his assertion that Scott was participating in the joke. He again accepted that the humour might not have appealed to everyone, while challenging the interpretation of his conduct towards her.

Another point of criticism concerned Henry's admission that he had wanted Kylian Mbappe to win the main award ahead of Kane. Henry explained that his preference reflected his support for a fellow Frenchman. He nevertheless praised Kane as deserving of the honour, highlighting the winner's work ethic and the value of hard work in his response.

Henry ended his statement by reiterating his admiration for both Kane and Yamal and repeating his denial of disrespect towards Scott, BBC Sport reported. His response addressed each of the three disputed exchanges while maintaining that the remarks should be understood as humour rather than criticism of the people involved.