Ballon d’Or 2023: Asisat Oshoala to Battle Rashford, Vinicius Jr for Socrates Award

• Asisat Oshoala has been nominated for the 2023 Ballon d'Or Socrates Award
• The Super Falcons striker will face competition from the likes of Marcus Rashford and Vinicius Junior
• The award was created in 2022 and named after Brazilian legend Socrates

Asisat Oshoala headlines a list of elite footballers who have been nominated to battle it out for this year's Socrates Award at the Ballon d'Or gala in October.

The Socrates Award, which will be awarded for the second time this year, is an award set aside for football players doing amazing charity work.

World Cup-bound Nigerian star Oshoala has been nominated alongside Manchester United star Marcus Rashford, Real Madrid players Vinicius Junior and Antonio Rudiger and United States ace Alex Morgan.

Bayern Munich forward Sadio Mane won the inaugural award last year for his immense charity work in his native Senegal, as reported by the club's website.

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Ballon d'Or's Twitter handle reveals that the award is sued to identify the best solidarity actions by committed members.

Why have they been nominated?

The Socrates Award is one of the categories that will be awarded at the October gala in Paris. Oshoala has made the list due to the work she has down through her academy, the Oshoala Academy.

Rudiger, Morgan and Vinicius Junior all have foundations under their names while Rashford has made news severally due to his efforts to feed children through a project dubbed Child Food Poverty Task Force.

In the main award, the nominees will be released on September 6, with Lionel Messi currently in the race to scoop an eighth title ahead of Erling Haaland as per the updated Ballon d'Or rankings.

Changes to Ballon d'Or rules

Sports Brief previously reported that the 2023 Ballon d'Or debate has already shaped into a battle between an existing superstar and one of his heirs apparent.

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35-year-old Messi is still in the running to win the coveted individual prize for a record-extending eighth time, yet City star, Haaland, could have something to say.

L'Equipe, the publication which organises the annual gala event each year, has revealed changes to Ballon d'Or rules as of 2021, shortly after Messi won his seventh.