Ballon d'Or awards cancelled for first time since 1956 due to COVID-19

- Ballon d'Or will produce no winner this year despite top European leagues completing their seasons

- France Football released a statement announcing the ceremony was cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

- Lionel Messi and Megan Rapinoe will remain unchallenged for the men's and women's categories

Ballon d'Or will not be contested by any player in 2020 due to the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

France Football, who hold the ceremony alluded to lack of sufficient and fair conditions to give the award to any player in all categories.

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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have dominated the awards for over a decade and the Barcelona star who currently holds the 2019 edition will remain unchallenged until 2021.

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Messi has won six accolades while his rival Ronaldo has five under his belts and both superstars would have been in contention or the 2020 award should it have not been cancelled.

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The likes of Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne would also have been in the race for the individual trophy.

The women's category which was scooped by United States striker Megan Rapinoe will also not have a successor in December.

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“For the first time in its history, which began in 1956, the Ballon d'Or will not be awarded in 2020, due to the lack of sufficient fair conditions," France Football said in a statement.

“Messi and Rapinoe (as well as [Mattijs] de Ligt and Alisson, winners of the Kopa and Yachine Trophies [for young player and goalkeeper]) will have to wait a year. The winners of the last edition will have no successors at the end of the year. Because there will be no Ballon d'Or 2020 edition," the statement added.

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