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.
READ: Ballon d’Or: Full list of men’s award winners from 1956 to 2021
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.
