The new terms of the Ballon d’Or, in full reform, were unveiled on Friday March 11 by France Soccer and The Team. The trophy which rewards the best player sees its calendar turned upside down, to better stick to the different competitions, with a more transparent regulation.
Main change with this reform, the Ballon d’Or now rewards the best player of the past season, from August to July, and no longer of the calendar year, to stick to the different competitions. For the next edition of the trophy, the performances of the players during the 2021-2022 season will therefore include the Women’s Euro which takes place in July, but not the World Cup in Qatar which will take place in December.
As for the rules, the “individual” character of the Ballon d’Or is reinforced, with priority given “to individual performance and decisiveness” of the nominees. Collective performances as well as fair play are taken into account in a secondary way. The “player’s career” criterion also disappears, to further open up the competition, explain France Soccer and The Team.
The jury is also tight: while 170 journalists, one per country, have voted so far, only those from the top 100 countries ranked in the Fifa index are now allowed to do so for the men’s Ballon d’Or, and only 50 for the Women’s Ballon d’Or.
Another more minor change, the list of nominees for the Ballon d’Or will no longer be drawn up solely by journalists from France Soccer and of The Teambut now with Didier Drogba, ambassador of the Ballon d’Or, as well as with “the voter who has shown the most insight in the previous edition”, “a tightening that reinforces the guarantees of expertise”.
Critics of the method of awarding the Ballon d’Or were raised during the last edition, in November 2021, when the trophy was won for the seventh time by Lionel Messi.