Starting next year, the prestigious individual football award, the Ballon d’Or, will be jointly organized by UEFA. This collaboration marks a new chapter in the award’s history, ending a seven-year gap since the previous partnership between the French organizers of the Ballon d’Or and FIFA came to an end.
From 2024 onward, the Ballon d’Or awards ceremony will be a joint effort between UEFA and Groupe Amaury, the publishers of France Football and L’Equipe. Between 2010 and 2016, the award was known as the FIFA Ballon d’Or, but in 2016, FIFA initiated its own Best Awards.
In this year’s Ballon d’Or event held in Paris, Lionel Messi clinched the men’s award for the eighth time, and Aitana Bonmatí received her first women’s award. According to a statement, UEFA will provide its football expertise, manage the global commercial rights, and oversee the annual awards ceremony.
Additionally, as part of this agreement, UEFA will discontinue its own player of the year awards, which have traditionally been presented in August.