For the first time in its history, the Ballon d’Or will not be awarded in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It has been awarded every year since 1956, however France Football, the organisation who awards the Ballon d’Or, said that 2020 was not an ordinary year due to the interruptions. Some league seasons were cut short and meant that there could not be a fair comparison between players for this year.
The trophies for the best women’s player, best goalkeeper and best young player will also not be awarded.
A France Football Dream Team will take the awards place for this year. The usual juries will be asked to choose 11 players for a dream team.
“Because the history of soundtrack is too precious to take the risk of damaging it with a wobbly exercise,” Pascal Ferré said, editor-in-chief of France Football.
“In these hectic times, taking a break is a luxury as well as an inestimable necessity. So that football, as a whole, regains momentum and momentum, passion and emotion.
“We did not want to place an indelible asterisk on the style ‘Trophy won in exceptional circumstances due to the Covid-19 health crisis’. We will always prefer a small sprain (to our story) to a big scar. It was the first time since 1956 that the Ballon d’Or had taken a break.
“The parenthesis does not enchant us but seems to us the most responsible and logical. Protecting the credibility and legitimacy of such an award also means ensuring that it is irreproachable over time.”
Coronavirus is still affecting soccer leagues across the world, although in the last week both the English Premier League and Major League Soccer have had zero positive results in their tests of players and club staff. Both leagues tested more than a thousand people.
Earlier this month MLS teams FC Dallas and Nashville SC had to withdraw from the ‘MLS is Back’ tournament after a high number of players in their squads tested positive to COVID-19.
On Tuesday it was also announced that a La Liga2 game between RC Deportivo and CF Fuenlabrada had to be postponed after some members of CF Fuenlabrada tested positive to the virus.
