Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the Ballon d’Or 2022 awards ceremony.
That is all for tonight. Thanks for tuning in. Goodnight and take care.
Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema wins the 2022 Men’s Ballon d’Or award. Benzema won the La Liga and the Champions League with Madrid last year. He finished as the La Liga top-scorer last season with 27 goals and also the Champions League top-scorer in 15 goals.
“This prize in front of me makes me really proud. When I was small, it was a childhood dream, I never gave up... Anything is possible,” Benzema said on stage at the ceremony.....there was a difficult period when I wasn’t in the French team but I never gave up. I’m really proud of my journey here. It wasn’t easy, it was a difficult time for my family as well.”- Karim Benzema
Real Madrid’s French forward Karim Benzema receives the Ballon d’Or award from French former forward football player Zinedine Zidane during the 2022 Ballon d’Or France Football award ceremony. | Photo Credit: AFP/FRANCK FIFE
English champion Manchester City wins the ‘Club of the Year’ award.
Liverpool, 2021-22 FA Cup and League Cup winner Liverpool is in second place. Real Madrid, current Spanish champion and winner of the Champions League in the 2021-22 season is in third place.
“I’ve been here for eight years. We have a philosophy. We try to play in the right way and inspire children. We are yet to win the Champions League, but we are proud of how we perform as a team”- Manchester City captain Kevin De Bruyne
Manchester City's Spanish director of football Txiki Begiristain (L), Manchester City's Belgian midfielder Kevin de Bruyne (3L) and Manchester City's Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson (2R) receive for Manchester City the Best Club of the Year trophy from former Portuguese football player Luis Figo (R) during the 2022 Ballon d'Or France Football award ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on October 17, 2022. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP) | Photo Credit: AFP/FRANCK FIFE
Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid wins the 2022 Yachine Award. Courtois won the La Liga and the Champions League in the 2021-22 season.
Real Madrid’s Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois receives the Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper during the 2022 Ballon d’Or France Football award ceremony. | Photo Credit: AFP/FRANCK FIFE
Robert Lewandowski of FC Barcelona wins the 2022 Gerd Muller award for the second successive year.
Drogba: This kid (Haaland) is scoring many goals. It might not be easy next year, my friend
Lewandowski: The season is very long. The next generation is coming up but I am still here.
Bayern Munich’s Polish forward Robert Lewandowski speaks before giving the Gerd Muller Trophy for best striker during the 2022 Ballon d’Or France Football award ceremony. | Photo Credit: AFP/FRANCK FIFE
Alexia Putellas of FC Barcelona wins the Women’s Ballon d’Or 2022.
“To Alexia, I want to say, don’t give up, keep going. She needs to fight for what she loves and that’s football”- Alexia Putellas’ mother Jaume in a special video on the Ballon d’Or winner
FC Barcelona’s Spanish midfielder Alexia Putellas receives her second Woman Ballon d’Or award. | Photo Credit: AFP/FRANCK FIFE
It’s been a very difficult moment since the war started for all Ukrainian people. I am proud of how my country has defended and fought for freedom. It is very important to remember that the war is still going and to stay beside Ukraine.
— Andriy Shevchenko (Ballon D’or winner, 2004)
Sadio Mane’s wins the first Socrates award at the Ballon d’Or 2022 ceremony for his humanitarian efforts. This award goes to the best social initiative in the game and recognises his work in building social infrastructure in Senegal.
Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane speaks after winning the Socrates Award during the 66th Ballon d’Or ceremony. | Photo Credit: AP Photo/Francois Mori
Gavi of FC Barcelona wins the Kopa Trophy 2022. This is the second successive year a Barcelona player has won this award after Pedri bagged it last year. This year, Pedri hands the award to his teammate.
FC Barcelona’s Gavi after winning the Kopa trophy. | Photo Credit: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Hosts for tonight Didier Drogba and Sandy Heribert take the stage.
The 2022 Ballon d’Or ceremony begins with a powerful opera by Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist Andrea Bocelli. In the background, France Football gives a tribute to all the past winners.
THE BALLON D’OR CEREMONY KICKS-OFF
Bringing the trophy in style
The Ballon d’or 2022 award ceremony will be held on October 17 in Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet. In India, the ceremony will be aired on October 18, Tuesday.
The Ballon d’Or award is an annual award given to the best footballer every year since its inception in 1956 and is organised by the French news magazine, France Football.
Between 2010 to 2015, an agreement with FIFA saw the Ballon d’Or merge with the FIFA World Player of the year and become the FIFA Ballon d’Or. However, the partnership came to an end in 2016 and the award returned to its original name of Ballon d’Or.
FIFA too reverted to its individual annual award as The Best FIFA Men’s Player.
Change in rules
Unlike earlier years where the Ballon d’Or award used to be given on the basis of a player’s performance in a calendar year (January to December), the body announced that from this year, players would be judged based on their performance over a regular European season (August to July).
The switch means the next Ballon d’Or award will cover the 2021-22 season, ending with the women’s European Championship in July.
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar, scheduled from November 21 to December 18, won’t be considered until the following season.
The men’s voting pool has been reduced from 170 to 100; with 50 voters for the women.
The magazine also clarified the criteria for the award. It’s based first on individual performance, then team performance, and finally fair play.
Who is the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or 2022?
Real Madrid player Karim Benzema is the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or 2022 award after his exemplary performance with Madrid last season where the forward won the La Liga title and the Champions League. He scored 27 goals in La Liga and 15 in the Champions League.
Despite Benzema being a string favourite, some of the notable players in the 30-man nominee list are Robert Lewandowski (at Bayern Munich in 2021/22, now at Barcelona), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), and Mohamed Salah (Liverpool).
Record seven-time winner Lionel Messi is not on the nominee list for the 2022 edition, while five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo finds himself on the list.
What other awards will be presented apart from the Men’s Ballon d’Or?
The award ceremony will also include Ballon d’Or Feminin, which will be presented to the best women’s player in 2021-22, the Yashin Trophy for the best men’s goalkeeper, and Kopa Trophy - for the best U-21 player.
