That’s because France Football, the magazine that established the Ballon d’Or award for the best European player, has ended its partnership with FIFA and will change the rules surrounding the award.
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Now FIFA must decide whether they will revive the defunct FIFA World Player award.
In an article on their website France Football have announced the voting panel will now entirely comprise of journalists, just as it did until 2008.
According to One Football, FIFA is yet to announce its next move, which could amount to a reprisal of its own award, while the Ballon d’Or will once again be voted for exclusively by a select group of worldwide journalists.
A shortlist of 30 players will be announced, but this will not be culled into a top 3 like in recent years, instead the overall victor will be announced before the close of the calendar year, reverting back to annual award rather than a season award.
The date of the announcement has also been changed, with the victor to be revealed before the end of the calender year.
There has been no official confirmation from Federation Internationale de Football Association yet about whether they will have their own award – but they will nearly certainly set up a rival prize.
FIFA has not yet announced plans for the FIFA Player of the Year award, which was the organization’s highest honor until merging with the Ballon d’Or in 2010. Also, seven more participants will now be added to the shortlist of 23 players to make the total 30. When FIFA awarded it, the victor was named at a gala event in January.
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Former AC Milan midfielder Ricardo Kaka was the last player to win the award before the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly began.
