Ballon d’Or 2020 Cancelled
By Carlie A. Horn
Ballon d'Or is cancelled for the first time in award's history due to the coronavirus pandemic. The award is given to the best soccer players in the world each year. Group L'Equipe , organizers of the award, announced in a statement on Monday the conditions for the award to take place where not met.
Editor-in-chief of France Football Pascal said in a statement, "There will be no edition in 2020, because it turns out, after thoughtful consideration, that all the conditions are not met. We believe that such a singular year cannot and should not be treated as an ordinary one."
"From a sports perspective, two months (January and February), out of the 11 generally required to form an opinion and decide who should lift the trophies, represent far too little to gauge and judge; without forgetting that the other games were played -- or will be played -- in unordinary conditions (behind closed doors, with five replacements, Champions League's Final eight played in a single game).
"Finally, the equity that prevails for this honorary title will not be warranted, especially when it comes to accounting and preparation: all the award seekers will not be in the same boat, some having seen their season cut short. Therefore, how can we establish a fair comparison? To avoid overly convoluted calculations and projections, we chose the least bad of the options."
The organization will announce a "Dream Team," at the end of the year, instead of awarding individual trophies. The players will be chosen by the Ballon d'Or jury. The 11 players with the most votes will make the final team.
The award was created in 1956 and in 2018 the organization added Ballon d'Or Feminin to reward the best player in the woman game. Barcelona Lionel Messi and U.S Megan Rapinoe won in 2019 awards.
Messi has won the award a record six times. Rapinoe and Ada Hegerberg have split the award, each winning once since females were included.
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