Abhay Singh
The Ballon d’Or shortlists reveal that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are absent from the men’s top 30 for the first time in 21 years. However, the awards ceremony’s efforts in women’s football remain inadequate.
The Yashin and Kopa trophies, which commemorate the finest men’s goalkeeper and young player of the year, have not been produced for the women’s game since the Ballon d’Or expanded to include female footballers in 2018.
This emphasizes the need for more comprehensive awards and categories in women’s football.
“We have been committed to honoring women’s football”
The lack of an award for under-21 female players is a significant issue, as it misses out on the opportunity to celebrate players like Salma Paralluelo, Linda Caicedo, and Alyssa Thompson. While Lamine Yamal, Kobbie Mainoo, and Alejandro Garnacho receive deserved applause, female players do not.
A Ballon d’Or representative defended the honors, pointing out that they now include a women’s coach of the year award. He said “We have been committed to honouring women’s football since the inception of the Women’s Ballon d’Or in 2018 and we are proud of the progress made thus far.”
Additionally, the awards ceremony is scheduled for Monday, October 28, which happens to coincide with the annual women’s international break. This ensures that a few of the female nominees won’t be able to travel to Paris for the ceremony.
“The date for the 2024 ceremony was chosen”
The organizers stated “The date for the 2024 ceremony was chosen, as every year, based on several key considerations. These include the necessity to await the end of the 2023-24 football season and the end of the Paris 2024 Olympics, organising the ceremony as close as possible to the end of the 2023-24 football season, allowing jurors sufficient time to vote while avoiding any date clash with domestic league football in Europe (ieexcluding Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays), as well as weeks with European club football matches.”
They also added “Based on said criteria, 28 October was the only viable date before mid-December, which we thought would have been too late to hold the ceremony.”
Last year, the ceremony took place 24 hours before England’s Nations League fixture against Belgium, causing shortlisted players like Georgia Stanway to not attend. This year, England has a home friendly against South Africa on 29 October, and it will be up to head coach Sarina Wiegman to decide if nominees Lauren James, Lucy Bronze, and Lauren Hemp will travel.
The United States will face Iceland in Nashville, presenting nominees and defender Glódís Viggósdóttir with a challenge to reach Paris in time.
Half of the men’s nominees may be in domestic cup action during the midweek ceremony, but no one is due to play on the night. The women’s international break is not a respectful time for the Ballon d’Or ceremony, as players compete globally.
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