Lionel Messi poses onstage after winning his sixth Ballon d’Or award during the Ballon d’Or ceremony at
Theatre Du Chatelet in 2019
The Ballon d’Or has been cancelled for the first time in the award’s history due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the football calendar.
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi won the 2019 award while OL Reign’s Megan Rapinoe took home the Ballon d’Or Feminin.
Organisers of the award, Group L’Equipe, announced in a statement yesterday that the conditions for the prize to take place had not been met.
“There will be no edition in 2020, because it turns out, after thoughtful consideration, that all the conditions are not met. We believe that such a singular year cannot—and should not—be treated as an ordinary one,” editor-in-chief of France Football Pascal Ferre said in a statement.
“From a sports perspective, two months (January and February), out of the 11 generally required to form an opinion and decide who should lift the trophies, represent far too little to gauge and judge; without forgetting that the other games were played—or will be played—in unordinary conditions (behind closed doors, with five replacements, Champions League’s Final eight played in a single game).
“Finally, the equity that prevails for this honorary title will not be warranted, especially when it comes to accounting and preparation: all the award seekers will not be in the same boat, some having seen their season cut short. Therefore, how can we establish a fair comparison? To avoid overly convoluted calculations and projections, we chose the least bad of the options.”
Instead of awarding the usual four individual trophies, the organisation will announce a ‘Dream Team’ at the end of the year. Eleven players will feature and will be chosen by the usual Ballon d’Or jury.
Each of the 180 juries will choose 11 players and the players with the most amount of votes will make the final team.
The award was created in 1956 and is the most prestigious individual trophy in football. In 2018, it added the Ballon d’Or Feminin to reward the best football player in the women’s game.