“No more January to December,” France Football amends Ballin d’Or awards

France Football has announced the Ballon d’Or will now be given to the best player over a standard European season rather than during a calendar year.

The 2021-22 campaign will end with the 2022 Women’s Euros, and the 2022 World Cup will be included in the 2022-23 awards.

They also announced a shift from the January to December calendar, a period during which the performance of footballers is viewed to determine nominees.

According to them, the award will now be issued based on the performance of players during the classic football season, which is from August to July.

“No more January to December,” 

“The #ballondor will now be awarded based on a classic football season: August to July! No worries, the Qatar World Cup will count for the 2023 award. Less global but… much more demanding.”

They also announced a change to the process of selecting Ballon d’Or jury members in their tweet saying…

“The process of selection for the #ballondor jury members is changing. Ballon d’Or Jury > journalists from country part of the FIFA top 100 rankings. Women’s Ballon d’Or Jury > journalists from country part of the FIFA top 50 rankings,”.

Paris St-Germain and Argentina international player, Lionel Messi, won the 2021 Men’s edition of the award while Alexia Putellas of Barcelona won the Women’s edition.

PSG and Italian international goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, won the Yashin Trophy in 2021.