Ballon d’Or is one of the most prestigious awards any footballer can win. This award is awarded to the best football player of the ongoing season, depending entirely on his club-level performances and international performance.
How is the Ballon d’Or decided?
The Ballon d’Or winner is decided by voting by a panel of qualified journalists, each representing the top 100 FIFA-ranked countries. These journalists select their top players from a shortlist, the player who receives the most points based on their voting ranking is declared the winner. The main criterion is the player’s performance during the previous football season, taking into account team success and player behavior.
The player with the most Ballon d’Or wins is “Lionel Messi”.
Ballon d’Or Comparision
It’s not true that the Ballon d’Or is entirely based on the player’s performances, PR and the player’s repute over the year are other factors to this. There have been many controversial winners over the years which were unaccepted by football fans. A recent example is last season Rodri (Manchester City) won the award but people thought Vini Jr (Real Madrid) deserved it.
Another thing to take into consideration is that the players competing for the Ballon d’Or in recent years have no competition to the iconic players and their records. An example is last season, people believed Vini Jr was the deserved winner with the following stats: 25 goals and 12 assists with a Champions League title, La Liga title, and the Spanish Super Cup. Lionel Messi in 2011-12 had 73 goals and 32 assists winning the Spanish Cup, Club World Cup, and European Super Cup.
Messi has won 8 Ballon d’Or awards and he made this competition look like a joke to others, making others think that this is not credible enough. This year the Ballon d’Or race is very competitive between two of the main stars Mo Salah and Raphinha. These two men are the main call-outs for this year.