The Ballon d’Or, a prestigious award awarded by France Football, which distinguishes the best male and female footballer, will start to evaluate the sporting season to the detriment of the calendar year, the magazine announced this Friday.
Delivered, in men’s, since 1956, the prize will be aligned with the football season, will include a more restricted jury, a different pre-selection and clearer criteria, according to information provided by France Football, which will present the regulation in its edition collapsed.
“It’s an opportunity to give new impetus. Before, we were evaluating two half seasons. This makes it more readable,” explained France Football editor-in-chief Pascal Ferré at a preview presentation held today in Boulogne-Billancourt.
The next trophy, to be delivered in September or October of this year, will also take into account the season started in 2021 and this year will include the final of the Champions League for the current season and the European Women’s Football Championship (from 06 to 31 July).
This reform comes in a year of major changes in the football calendar, with the World Cup taking place outside its traditional period – which would still cover this season -, and entering the following one, with the dispute taking place between November and December, in Qatar.
A scenario that will put players in the spotlight in the competition only with the possibility of being distinguished by France Fottball in the 2022/23 season.
Other changes include the integration of former Ivorian international Didier Drogba into the committee that will pre-select the nominees, and the reduction of the number of judges, which will continue to have journalists, but one per country.
Voting for men will only be done by 100 voters – as opposed to the previous 170 -, corresponding to the first 100 countries in the FIFA ‘ranking’, and for women it is reduced by half, to 50 people.
A change that France Football justifies to guarantee “the expertise” of those who vote and their access to images.
Another important aspect in the choice of awardees has to do with the collective achievements, which pass into the background, with the magazine wanting to privilege “individual performance” and the “decisive or impressive character” of the candidates.
For the magazine, it will no longer make sense to reward players’ careers, avoiding turning the Ballon d’Or into a “fief”.
Since its creation, three Portuguese footballers have been awarded this trophy, the first Eusébio, in 1965, then Luís Figo, in 2000, and, finally, Cristiano Ronaldo, in 2008, 2016 and 2017.
The current holders of the trophy are Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Spain’s Alexia Putellas.
Between 2010 and 2015, the trophy was presented simultaneously with the FIFA Best Player award, with Cristiano Ronaldo accumulating the distinctions in 2014 and 2013.
