France Football announce major changes to the Ballon d'Or award for 2022

In November of last year, Lionel Messi won a record seventh Ballon d’Or.

No footballer in history comes close to matching the Paris Saint-Germain superstar’s total, with Cristiano Ronaldo‘s haul of five the second-best.

In the eyes of many, Messi was a deserving winner after a superb 2021 which saw him keep Barcelona afloat and achieve international success with Argentina at the Copa America.

However, there were also a lot of other football lovers who believe Bayern Munich‘s Robert Lewandowski should have scooped the coveted individual accolade instead.

Due to that fact, there were cries for changes to be made in regards to the Ballon d’Or award process and France Football have decided to listen.

The French publication have announced four major changes and on paper, it looks as if they will make things a lot fairer moving forward.

Let’s take a look at them in detail…

So the 2022 award will be based on player performance in the 2021/22 campaign. The 2022 World Cup will therefore contribute to the 2023 award.

France Football, per Goal: “Because the award was originally designed to celebrate the best player of the year, since then no change has taken place at this level. The BdO celebrates the strongest from January to December, which obliges, de facto, to judge and gauge two half-seasons – January-July and August-December (sometimes accompanied by club changes in the off-season) – rather than one season in its entirety and continuity.

“Also, by proceeding with a slight shift in time, with an abandonment of the calendar rhythm and an alignment of the BdO (men and women) on the classic seasonality of football – for the month of August, which coincides with the start of the major championships and the European preliminary