ISLAMABAD
\nThe Ballon d\u2019Or, awarded to the world\u2019s best male and female footballer, is revamping its format from next season, organisers France Football magazine said on Friday.
\nThe award willl now be based on performances across a whole football season, rather than a calendar year, and the jury that selects the winner will be reduced to around 100 journalists rather than the current 170.
\nThe women\u2019s award will have a jury of 50.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity to give it a new impetus,\u201d France Football\u2019s chief editor Pascal Ferre said at a presentation of the new format.
\n\u201cBefore we were judging based on two half seasons. This will be clearer.\u201d
\nThe next Ballon d\u2019Or awards will be handed out in September or October 2022 and will be based on the season that ended in July with the women\u2019s Euro 2022.
\nWith the World Cup finals in Qatar not taking place until November and December this year, the stars of that event will have to wait until the 2023 awards.
\nThe changes are also designed to prevent the Ballon d\u2019Or becoming the equivalent of lifestyle awards.
\nThis is in response to the criticism of the 2021 award given to Lionel Messi for the seventh time, following his transfer to French giants Paris Saint-Germain.
\nMany observers believed Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski deserved to win — the Pole did win the equivalent category in the 2022 Best FIFA awards.
\nBarcelona\u2019s Alexia Putellas won both the Ballon d\u2019Or and the Best Fifa award for women\u2019s player.
\nIn another change, former Chelsea forward Didier Drogba is joining the committee that picks nominees.
\nThe criteria will also be clarified with \u201cindividual performances\u201d given more prominence than factors such as the trophies won by a player\u2019s team or an individual\u2019s \u201csense of fairplay\u201d.
\n\u201cIt is about avoiding ambiguities, being clear and coherent — the Ballon d\u2019Or is an individual award based on individual performances,\u201d Ferre said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD The Ballon d\u2019Or, awarded to the world\u2019s best male and female footballer, is revamping its format from next season, organisers France Football magazine said on Friday. The award willl now be based on performances across a whole football season, rather than a calendar year, and the jury that selects the winner will be reduced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-249149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n