France Football has announced changes in their rules for the Ballon d’Or award. This comes after the magazine and FIFA ended its six-year association, which saw the Ballon D’Or and FIFA’s World Player of the Year combined to award the best player in the world.
France Football confirms the voting for the award, will be done by a select group of journalists, which leaves out the input of national team coaches and captains. They also announced that the shortlist of finalists, will increase from 23 to 30 players. The date of the announcement has also been changed, with the winner to be revealed before the end of the calender year. The award was previously handed out in January.
Since FIFA’s sponsorship of the Ballon d’Or in 2010, only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have won it. The Barcelona talisman has won four while Ronaldo scooped the other two.