France Football have announced that Ballon d’Or will not be awarded in 2020, owing to the exceptional circumstances due to pandemic, and ‘lack of sufficient fair conditions.’
The award ceremony was due in December. The best players in the men’s and women’s game are presented with the prestigious Ballon d’Or and Ballon d’Or Féminin awards. Lionel Messi and Megan Rapinoe were recipient of the coveted award last year.
The world has been going through a pandemic and the situation has been unprecedented. Though football made a comeback with Bundesliga in Europe, and major football leagues followed suit. But France decided to stop 2019-20 season of Ligue 1. Euro-2020 has also been postponed due to the uncertainties, and European competitions for clubs have been postponed to August, with huge changes in tournament structure.
France Football have released a statement explaining that these exceptional conditions meant there were a ‘lack of sufficient fair conditions’ to hold an awards’ ceremony in 2020, and as such, for the first time in the 64 year history of the Ballon d’Or, it has been called off.
Ballon d’Or Award 2020 – Probables
The probable contenders for 2019-20 season were Robert Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, along with Liverpool quartet, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker.
Karim Benzema would also find himself in the list of probables along with Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos and Thibaut Courtois for their superb performance in La Liga.
The three who stood out for the award are Robert Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Though European competitions still due in August, the majority of the season have already been played.
Goal scored in this season – Comparison
Robert Lewandowski
51 Goals in 43 Appearances
Cristiano Ronaldo
34 Goals in 42 Appearances
Lionel Messi
30 Goals in 42 Appearances
Judging players on the basis of goal scoring record, may look like little harsh, as they have different playing style, but Lewandowski has been in a great form in 2019-20 season and has been effective for Bayern Munich’s superlative domestic as well as European performance so far.