Changes were made in the criteria of the Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) award given to the best football player of the year.
According to the changes confirmed by France Football Editor Pascal Ferre, the performance of the candidates for the award will be evaluated seasonally, not annually (January-December). Accordingly, the performances at the 2022 World Cup to be held in Qatar in November and December will be taken into account in 2023.
Representatives of the countries in the top 100 places of the FIFA ranking for male candidates and the top 50 for female candidates will participate in the voting process.
In the new period, in which not only individual but also team performances will be evaluated, the candidates’ fair play reports will also be important.
At the ceremony held last November, Paris Saint-Germain’s Argentine star Lionel Messi received the award instead of the favorites, Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski and Liverpool’s Muhammed Salah, which caused great controversy.