Highlights:
- Ballon d’Or will not be awarded to any footballer this year
- This is the first time in the history Ballon d’Or will not be awarded
- The reason is being said to be the COVID-19 pandemic
The year 2020 is turning out to be a nightmare for football fans all around the globe, with the latest page coming as no Ballon d’Or award this year due to the extreme condition created by the novel Coronavirus pandemic, the organisers of the France Football announced on Monday.
In the history of the Ballon d’Or, it will be the first time the World’s Best Men’s Footballer award will not be presented since Englishman Stanley Matthews won the first award in the year 1956.
The editor of France Football magazine, Pascal Ferre said, “There will be no edition in 2020, because it turns out, after thoughtful consideration, that all the conditions are not met,”.
The outbreak of the novel Coronavirus caused all major football leagues to shut down in March, with the Bundesliga, the Geman top football league, resumed the matches behind closed doors in May.
The magazine, France Football, also said that it would be unfair to cast votes on the World’s Best Football Player when various football leagues, including the France top league, Ligue 1 cancelled its season early in the year.
Pascal Ferre also suggested that it would be wrong to even judge the players based on games played without any spectators present and added that, “We believe that such a singular year cannot… be treated as an ordinary year,”.
“Two months –January and February – out of the eleven generally required to form an opinion and decide who should lift the trophies, represent far too little to gauge and judge, without forgetting that the other games were played — or will be played — in unusual conditions (behind closed doors, with five replacements, Champions League’s Final 8 played in a single game).”
Last year Lionel Messi won his 6th Ballon d’Or making him the only footballer in the history of the game to attack such a feat.
The women’s Ballon d’Or which was only introduced in 2018, has also been cancelled and so have been the Kepa Trophy which is given to the Best Young Player.
In addition to this, even the Yashin Award has been cancelled which is presented to the Best Goalkeeper.
Ferre said, “This decision, which was taken of course with all the group stakeholders, does not delight us but it seems to be the most responsible one,” and added, “Protecting the credibility and legitimacy of such an award also means ensuring its flawlessness over time.”
The magazine added that it is looking forward to holding the award ceremony next year, i.e. 2021, however, this year, it would instead organise a vote for the all-time greatest men’s XI.
This will be the first time since 1956 that Ballon d’Or will not be awarded.
