The Golden Ball changes skin.

He "offers a little makeover and slight transformations" to use the words of France Football.

Not necessarily to respond to criticism – but a little nonetheless – after Lionel Messi's 7th victory, the year he least deserved it.

But above all to “stay perfectly connected to the requirements […] of contemporary football.

»

Concretely, four aspects of the Ballon d'Or will change.

The first being the calendar.

If the periodicity remains the same, it will no longer be a question of naming the best footballer in the world in December but after each season.

This is the most important (and most logical) measure of the reform.

The next edition will take place in the fall of 2022 but the votes will stop in the summer.

“The next edition will therefore take into account the entire 2021-1922 season which will end with the Women's Euro (July 6 to 31, 2022).

The World Cup in Qatar (November 21-December 18, 2022) will, however, include the 2023 Ballon d'Or edition.

The list, voters and rules also change

The list: 

To the lists of 

FF

(and 

L'Équipe

) journalists are added those of Didier Drogba and the most discerning voter of the previous edition.

The idea being to present the most consistent and fair list of contenders.

Voters: 

It will decrease to exclude voices disconnected from reality.

No luck, since they made us laugh.

This is what FF also says.

“A tightening that reinforces the level of expertise and limits the (rare) fanciful votes.

What will be lost in picturesqueness will be gained in legitimacy and reliability.

From now on, only the representatives of the first 100 countries in the FIFA rankings (top 50 women) will be qualified to vote.

Voting criteria:

As if to say goodbye to Messi and CR7, who have (too) long animated the race for the Ballon d'Or in recent years, FF is getting rid of the career criterion.

Only the current year will count.

The individual performances and decisiveness of the contenders will be judged, as well as their collective results.

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  • Sport

  • Lionel Messi

  • Soccer

  • Ballon d'Or

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