Ballon d’Or Owner Moves to File Complaint Over Suspect Polymarket Bets

Groupe Amaury, owner of France Football and organizer of the Ballon d'Or, is filing a complaint over suspicious Polymarket bets that correctly predicted the top five finishers in exact order before the Oct. 26 ceremony. French outlet Upside first flagged the wagers and published blockchain tracing on Oct. 29 linking one of the accounts to a Ballon d'Or judge, raising insider-trading concerns on the prediction market. The bets called the exact ranking — Ousmane Dembélé first, Lamine Yamal second, followed by the rest of the top five — an outcome with extremely low probability that would have paid out handsomely to early positions. Polymarket, which runs on Polygon and settles in USDC, has faced similar integrity questions in the past, and the episode lands as regulated rivals like Kalshi and CFTC oversight draw increasing scrutiny to prediction-market practices. Watch for whether French authorities open a formal probe, whether Polymarket freezes or reviews the flagged accounts, and whether Groupe Amaury changes how judges' votes are handled or disclosed.