French magazine France Football will also award a Golden Ball to the best goalkeeper this year, an award that will carry the name of the legendary Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin, the organizers said on Thursday.
The new prize will be presented to the others at the award ceremony on December 2, at the Chatelet theater in Paris. The event will be hosted by former Ivorian striker Didier Drogba.
In addition to the Lev Yashin trophy and the Golden Ball for the best player, created in 1956, the ceremony will award the Women’s Golden Ball and the Kopa Trophy, for the best U21s of the year, both created last year.
For the editor-in-chief of “France Football”, Pascal Ferré, the creation of the Lev Yashin trophy is due to the fact that, often, the main prize is won by offensive players. However, the journalist does not consider the initiative a consolation prize for goalkeepers.
“He will reward the best goalkeeper in the world, elected by the same jury of international experts as the Golden Ball,” explained Ferré.
The organizers said they would announce candidates for the different awards on October 21, leaving the jury more than a month to cast their votes.
