An atypical year in almost everything and normal in almost nothing: France Football announced this Monday that, exceptionally, will not deliver the Golden Ball for the year 2020. This will be the first time since 1956, the year in which the trophy began to be awarded, that the French magazine does not highlight the best footballer of the year.
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In a communication published on Monday afternoon, France Football announced the “scarcity of fair conditions” and justified “exceptional provisions” for “exceptional circumstances”. There are seven reasons presented and highlighted by the French magazine:
Because a “singular year” cannot be treated “as an ordinary year”. “In case of doubt, it is better to abstain than to persist,” says the magazine;
Because Bola de Ouro celebrates not only sporting excellence but also other values, such as “example, solidarity and responsibility”;
Because the justice inherent in awarding the trophy could not be preserved. “Especially at the statistical level and also in the preparation, since not all aspirants to the prize were in the same boat, with some seeing the season end radically and others not. How can we compare the incomparable? ”, It can be read in the statement;
Because France Football did not want to put an asterisk to indicate that the trophy had been awarded in exceptional circumstances due to the pandemic. “We will always prefer a small stretch in our history than a big scar. This is the first time since 1956 that the Golden Ball has paused. The parenthesis does not delight us, but it seems to us the most responsible and logical. Protecting the credibility and legitimacy of such a prize also means guaranteeing its perfection over time ”, explains France Football;
Because only two months of the calendar year, January and February, were really useful in forming an opinion and distinguishing players in an equivalent way. “We cannot force ourselves to rely on cut seasons, with so many special conditions, to choose the best. The best of what, by the way? It would not be worthy of our history ”, the magazine says;
Because the pandemic may have distracted or diverged the 220 jurors scattered around the world;
And because the Golden Ball story is “too precious to risk spoiling it with a wobbly exercise”. In these turbulent times, stopping is a luxury and a worthless necessity. So that football, as a whole, can recover momentum, passion and emotion ”, ends the statement from France Football.
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The Golden Ball, or Ballon d’Or in its original designation, it began to be awarded in 1956 by France Football and is the oldest individual distinction in international football. Between 2010 and 2015, the trophy joined the World Player of The Year, awarded by FIFA since 1991, and was renamed FIFA Ballon d’Or. The partnership ended in 2016 and France Football returned to deliver the award unilaterally, while FIFA created The Best FIFA.
The first winner, as early as 1956, was Englishman Stanley Matthews, then at the service of Blackpool, with Alfredo Di Stéfano and Raymond Kopa occupying the second and third places. Eusébio was the first Portuguese to win the Golden Ball, in 1965, and was the second most voted in 1962 and 1966, with Luís Figo receiving the distinction in 2000. Lionel Messi, the last winner, is also the absolute record holder, with six Golden Balls, while Cristiano Ronaldo has five (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017).
George Weah, the only African to have won the Golden Ball, was also the first non-European to receive the award, precisely in 1995, the year in which the rules changed for the first time and started to include players other than just the Europe. Ronaldo, two years later, was the first South American to win the trophy. With a natural superiority of midfielders and strikers and attacking players in general, Fabio Cannavaro is still the only defender to have received the Golden Ball in 2006, with Soviet Lev Yashin being the only goalkeeper.
