UEFA Best Player award will no longer exist.
Cristiano Ronaldo will remain the player with the highest UEFA Best.
UEFA and France Football have announced a historic agreement to merge their prestigious individual awards, the UEFA Best Player and the Ballon d’Or, into a single trophy. The new award, which will be called the UEFA Ballon d’Or, will be presented annually to the best player in the world, based on their performances in club and national team competitions.
The decision to unify the two awards comes after years of debate and controversy over the criteria and voting process of each one. The UEFA Best Player, which was created in 2011, was awarded by a jury of journalists and coaches from UEFA’s 55 member associations. The Ballon d’Or, which dates back to 1956, was originally given by France Football magazine to the best European player, but later expanded to include players from any continent. The voting was done by a panel of journalists from around the world.
The UEFA Ballon d’Or will aim to combine the best aspects of both awards, while ensuring transparency, fairness and recognition of the players’ achievements. The voting will be done by a combination of journalists, coaches, former players and fans, who will each have a weighted share of the final result. The award will also take into account the players’ individual and collective statistics, as well as their impact on the game and their social responsibility.
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The criteria for voting will be based on a set of indicators that will measure the players’ performance in different competitions and categories. For example, the number of goals scored, assists provided, trophies won, minutes played, etc. The indicators will be adjusted according to the position and role of each player on the pitch. The voting panel will also evaluate the players’ contribution to their teams’ style of play, their leadership qualities, their fair play attitude and their influence on the football community.
The first edition of the UEFA Ballon d’Or will be held in December 2024, and will cover the period from July 2023 to June 2024. The ceremony will take place in Paris, the home of France Football, and will be broadcast live across Europe and the world.
The creation of the UEFA Ballon d’Or will have a significant impact on the history and prestige of individual awards in football. It will also have an immediate effect on one of the most decorated players of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese star, who currently plays for Manchester United, has won the UEFA Best Player four times (2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021), more than any other player. He has also won the Ballon d’Or five times (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), equaling Lionel Messi’s record.
With the UEFA Best Player award being discontinued, Ronaldo will remain the undisputed holder of that title forever. He will also have a chance to add to his Ballon d’Or tally with the new UEFA Ballon d’Or, which will recognize his achievements in both European and global competitions.
Ronaldo, who is 38 years old, has shown no signs of slowing down his remarkable career, and is still scoring goals and breaking records at the highest level. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and his legacy will be further enhanced by this historic change in football’s individual awards.
One of the main questions that arises from this change is how it will affect FIFA’s The Best award, which is another individual award that claims to honor the best player in the world. FIFA’s The Best was created in 2016, after FIFA ended its partnership with France Football for the Ballon d’Or. FIFA’s The Best is voted by national team captains and coaches, selected media representatives and online fans.
FIFA’s The Best has been criticized for being inconsistent with other awards and for having a questionable voting system. For example, in 2018, Luka Modric won FIFA’s The Best after leading Croatia to the World Cup final and winning the Champions League with Real Madrid. However, he finished second behind Modric in both UEFA Best Player and Ballon d’Or voting.
In 2019, Lionel Messi won FIFA’s The Best after having an outstanding season with Barcelona but failing to win any major trophy with Argentina. However, he finished second behind Virgil van Dijk in both UEFA Best Player and Ballon d’Or voting.
The emergence of the UEFA Ballon d’Or may further undermine FIFA’s The Best credibility and relevance. If both awards have similar criteria and voting panels, it is likely that they will have similar results. In that case, FIFA’s The Best may be seen as redundant or inferior to UEFA Ballon d’Or. If both awards have different criteria and voting panels, it is likely that they will have different results. In that case, FIFA’s The Best may be seen as inconsistent or biased compared to UEFA Ballon d’Or.
FIFA may have to rethink its strategy and approach for its individual award. It may have to find a way to differentiate itself from UEFA Ballon d’Or, or to collaborate with UEFA and France Football to create a unified and harmonized award system. Otherwise, FIFA’s The Best may lose its prestige and appeal among players, fans and media.