UEFA to organise Ballon d’Or as rival to FIFA The Best awards،
Football’s most prestigious individual award, the Ballon d’Or, will be co-hosted by UEFA from next year, giving the European governing body a global event that traditionally surpasses the world’s top football awards. FIFA.
The deal comes seven years after the end of a previous partnership between the prize’s French organizers and world governing body FIFA.
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From 2024, the Ballon d’Or award and ceremony will be co-organized by UEFA and the Amaury Group, which publishes France Football and L’Equipe.
France Football magazine created the Ballon d’Or, awarded for the first time in 1956 to English winger Stanley Matthews. For six seasons starting in 2010, the award was known as the FIFA Ballon d’Or, and the ceremonies were held in Zurich, the home city of the world governing body.
FIFA has held its own Best Awards since 2016 and previously awarded the annual World Player of the Year award since 1991.
The latest edition of the Ballon d’Or took place on Monday in Paris. Two World Cup winners have won the Best Player award: Lionel Messi won the men’s award for the eighth time and Aitana Bonmatí won her first women’s award.
“UEFA will provide football expertise, market global commercial rights and organize the annual awards gala,” it said in a statement.
The relaunch will add new awards for the best coaches in men’s and women’s soccer.
“Together, UEFA and the Amaury Group aim to strengthen the stature and global reach of the awards while fostering a sense of unity and collaboration within the football community,” UEFA said.
The deal will also see UEFA scrap its own Player of the Year awards, which are traditionally handed out in August, although it will give out a Player of the Season award for each of its club competitions, such as the Champions League and the Europa League. .
Meanwhile, Messi and Inter Miami will play an exhibition match on November 10 to celebrate his eighth Ballon d’Or victory.
The team will face another Major League Soccer club, New York City FC. Both teams missed the MLS playoffs, which began last month.
The trophy will be presented to the crowd before the match, and that ceremony will also include remarks from MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas, the team said.
Messi returned to South Florida early Tuesday after the Ballon d’Or announcement and was at a training session with the club that morning, which was a clear indicator that Inter Miami was still looking to add a match even if its MLS season is over.
