Who is the best football player in the world? While many of us have our own opinions, they can often be biased as we instinctively lean towards personal favorites, whether they be individual players we admire or because they feature for teams we support. Deciding who is the best is far from easy and when awards are concerned, often surrounded by controversy. Some even believe the Ballon d’Or has become a meaningless accolade.
Evolution of the award & changes in voting
Cristiano Ronaldo won his first Ballon d’Or in 2008, followed by the first for Lionel Messi in 2009. The format for the award was then changed from 2010 to 2015, awarded jointly by France Football and FIFA, as the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards were merged. During the six-year collaboration, Messi won four awards and Ronaldo two.
The collaboration between France Football and FIFA also featured a different voting process. Alongside a jury of renowned international football journalists, the head coaches and captains of every international team were also able to vote. When those combined votes were calculated, the player with the highest percentage of votes claimed the award.
From 2016 to the present, with the conclusion of the collaboration between France Football and FIFA, the Ballon d’Or has reverted to its original voting format of being decided exclusively by journalists, rather than including the opinions of head coaches and fellow players. Needless to say, with the exception of Luka Modric winning in 2018, Messi and Ronaldo have dominated.
How are Ballon d’Or winners decided?
To get the ball rolling, so to speak, the editors of the French weekly publication France Football are tasked with creating a shortlist of nominees, which contains 30 players. The actual job of voting for the Ballon d’Or award winner is then sent to 180 international journalists, who each represent a different country.
33 votes separated Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski in the Ballon d’Or voting…#BallonDor pic.twitter.com/P5XK4kXAOb
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) November 29, 2021
These journalists are then asked to select their own top five players in order of merit, from first to the fifth position. Likewise, they are also asked to consider certain criteria within their decision process. This includes weighting the quality of individual and collective performances during the year, player class demonstrated by talent and fair play, plus an overall judgment reflecting on the player’s career.
Once each journalist has chosen their top five players, points are then awarded in order of position. The top-ranking player in the first position receives six points, second place earns four points, then three for the third, two for fourth, and one point for the fifth position. When each of the 180 journalists has submitted their votes, the total points are calculated to decide which player has won the Ballon d’Or award.
2021 Ballon d’Or award winner
Unfortunately, the 2020 Ballon d’Or award was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused great disruption. Although some leagues and competitions were resumed after a lengthy pause, others were canceled or abandoned entirely. Nevertheless, many journalists believed that had the award been held, Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich would have been the most likely winner.
HERE IS THE WINNER!
SEVEN BALLON D’OR FOR LIONEL MESSI! #ballondor pic.twitter.com/U2SywJmruC
— Ballon d’Or #ballondor (@francefootball) November 29, 2021
When voting began for the 2021 Ballon d’Or, there was a growing belief that Lewandowski would claim the award, having scored 48 in all competitions during the 2020-21 season. This included 41 goals in German competitions, significant because the Polish striker beat the German football record of 40 goals, which had been set by legendary Gerd Müller back in 1971-72.
Nevertheless, when votes for the 2021 Ballon d’Or were finally counted, it was Lionel Messi who took the seventh award of his career. The Argentine superstar topped voting with 613 points, narrowly ahead of Lewandowski on 580 points in second place, followed by Chelsea midfielder Jorginho with 460 points in the third position.
Calls for changes to the Ballon d’Or voting process
Lewandowski did win the Best Striker of the Year award at the Ballon d’Or gala ceremony. Given he also won The Best FIFA Men’s Player award for 2020, and the IFFHS World’s Best Man Player for 2020 and 2021, this has raised considerable doubts about how genuinely the Ballon d’Or award can actually be regarded. Even the majority of leading bookmakers had considered Lewandowski as the favorite by some margin, based on his performances and having legitimately won other awards.
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Meanwhile, voting for the Ballon d’Or award continues to be shrouded in obscurity, while the selection process to decide which journalists get to vote has also been criticized. Some have even called for journalists to be removed from the voting process entirely, preferring international team head coaches and captains to be involved again. After all, what better form of recognition could there be, than that of colleagues and peers, who are active participants in football themselves.
