France Football & L’Equipe Makes Four Significant Changes To The Ballon D’Or | New Selection Criteria Announced For The Upcoming Ballon D’Or Award

France Football & L’Equipe Makes Four Significant Changes To The Ballon D’Or | New Selection Criteria Announced For The Upcoming Ballon D’Or Award

France football announced important changes for the selection of Ballon d’Or winner. The new winner of Ballon d’Or will be decided with the new rules coming into effect from the next edition of the award.

Paris sain-German forward Leo Messi was the last player to win this award. He clinched the award for record 7 times, two more than Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

France Football make Changes in Ballon d’Or:

France Football makes Four significant changes to the Ballon d’Or. As the prestigious award is now being based on performances across the European season, not a calendar year.

Key Take ways:

  • Four major changes have been made to the Ballon d’Or ahead of this year’s vote.
  • Voting will now be based on performances across the European season
  • Players will be judged on individual performances ahead of collective displays
  • How a player has performed in previous years will not be factored in
  • The number of representatives qualified to vote has been reduced.

1). By season, not by year

Till the last year, the Ballon d’Or was awarded based on the Player’s performances during a calendar year, from January to December.

However, from now on, the prize will be given to the best player of the season, from August to July. This means the 2022 Men’s World Cup in Qatar performance will be included next year.

2). Specialists to put together Even Stronger lists

Before the new rule, The editorial staff of France Football and L’Equipe were the ones who chose 30 Ballon d’Or candidates. Alon with Ballon d’Or also chose 20 candidates for the Yashin Trophy and 20 for the Kopa Trophy.

However, from now on, more specialists will participate in the process. Including Balloon d’Or ambassador Didier Drogba and the voters who came closer to getting the last edition’s results rights.

3). A more demanding voting system

Representatives of as many as 170 countries participated in the last edition’s voting. But France football changed this. The new rule suggests representatives of only the top 100 countries in the FIFA ranking and the top 50 for women’s football will be able to vote from now on.

4). Criteria & Clear rules

After stressing that the Ballon d’Or is an individual award. L’Equipe makes clear that voters should firstly focus mainly on the players’ performances over collective achievements.

However, Collective achievements will also be taken into consideration. The third criteria are the players’ ability and sense of fair play.

However, Collective achievements will also be taken into consideration. The third criteria are the players’ ability and sense of fair play.

A player’s performance in the previous year will not be considered when voting for the winner.

Summary

France Football magazine has given out the award to men every year since 1956 and to women each year since 2018, though both were canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic.

For Ballon d’Or 2022, France Football and L’Equipe make Four significant changes to select the winner.

  • The Award period will be for the European season rather then enitre Calendar year.
  • The award will consider a player’s Individual performance, Collectie performance, the Class of player, and their Fair Play Record.
  • A player’s performance in the previous year will not be considered when voting for the winner.
  • Only the representatives of the first 100 countries in the FIFA rankings for the men’s award and the first 50 for the women’s will be “Qualified” to vote.