The Ballon d’Or is set to undergo some huge changes through a series of reforms before the next ceremony. Football’s top prize courted a lot of controversy at the end of last year as Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) striker Lionel Messi received the award for a record-extending seventh time. Messi, who had won the Copa del Rey, before leaving Barcelona, in the club season, wasn’t considered as worthy a winner as Robert Lewandowski, who missed out on the award a year before, due to Covid-19 pandemic. However, all that is about to change as France Football announced sweeping changes for the current year and beyond.
The publication, which has been handing out the award since 1956, on Friday, revealed four key changes that will be made to the process of identifying the world’s finest talent.
Firstly, the award will now be handed out in October and will only take into account the previous European season, instead of the full calendar year, France Football’s editor-in-chief Pascal Ferre told L’Equipe. This year’s award will only consider the performances of footballers during the 2021-22 season, which ends with the Women’s Euro 2022 tournament in July. This also means that performances from the men’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar will only be taken into account for the award’s 2023 edition.
Secondly, the journalists from the publication aren’t the only ones who will have a say in the winners.
In another significant change, the representatives of the top 100 ranked FIFA countries for the men’s award instead of every country and the first 50 for the women’s will be eligible to vote.
Lastly, the criteria for deciding the winner have changed, the top of the criteria for the winner will not only include a player’s individual performance. But also take into account (his/her’s ) team performance, as well as the “class” of a player and their fair play record.
The fourth change is a big departure from the earlier criteria, where a player’s reputation and past records will not be considered when voting for the winner.
With these significant changes kicking in, fans will be hoping that correct winners be recognised as the best player on the planet.
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