Ballon D’or: France Football Announces 4 Radical Changes Made to Award Process from 2022

• Four major changes are set to be effected in the Ballon d’or award from 2022
• The changes revolve around the criteria of voting and the voting system used in determining the winner
• Lionel Messi is the most prolific winner of the award, having scooped it seven times

The Ballon d’Or as we know it is set to undergo some radical changes, with four major areas of the individual award set to be effected from as early as 2022.

Lionel Messi as the latest winner of the award as he scooped the accolade in November 2021 for the seventh time in controversial circumstances.

Messi beat Robert Lewandowski to the award, but many fans felt the Poland international deserved it more.

The Ballon d’Or winner is usually determined through votes from captains, coaches and journalists.

It has been an award that has been issued since 1956, but now changes are set to be placed starting as early as from the 2022 edition.

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According to France Football, the body in charge of the awards, the following changes will be made:

Decisions based on traditional seasons

Unlike in the past, decisions on the best player will now be determined over a period of traditional seasons, instead of a calendar year. This means players will be judged for their performances between August to July the following year.

Stronger shortlists

Previously, the determinants of the 30-man shortlists of the Ballon d’or were mainly writers of France Football.

But as per France football, “To the lists of FF (and L'Équipe) journalists will now be added BdO ambassador Didier Drogba (for the men's BdO and the Yachine and Kopa Trophies) as well as the voter who has shown himself to be the most insightful in the previous edition.

An intense voting system

The number of people able to vote will also change from the traditional representatives from 170 countries.

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From now onwards, only the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings – and the top 50 for women's football – will be able to vote.

“As there is no question of abandoning the founding democratic principle (all votes are equal, whatever the country), the idea is therefore to limit the jury to an "elite", to real connoisseurs. Thus, only the representatives of the first hundred countries in the FIFA rankings (and the fifty for women) will be "qualified" to vote.” Says a statement from France Football.

Change in criteria to select winner

Since it is an individual award, organisers also sought to shift the focus of the award to individual performances.

Voters are thus encouraged to focus on the player’s individual performances over their collective achievements.

What this implies is a player who has the golden boot, golden shoe and impressive individual stats without winning silverware in a particular season stands a chance of collecting the Ballon d’or.