Organisers of the highly coveted Ballon D’or awards have announced that there will be no 2020 winner of the award which has been dominated by current football superstars Lionel Messi who has the highest triumph with six to his credit and Cristiano Ronaldo with five.
France Football explained that the award has been called off due to ‘lack of sufficient conditions.
This means that previous winners will keep hold of their awards until hopefully next year when conditions would permit new winners to be acknowledged.
France Football said in a statement on their official website: “In exceptional circumstances, exceptional provisions. For the first time in its history, which began in 1956, the Ballon d’Or France Football will not be awarded in 2020, due to the lack of sufficient fair conditions.
“Messi and Rapinoe (as well as[Mattijs] de Ligt and Alisson, winners of the Kopa and Yachine Trophies) will have to wait a year. The winners of the last edition of the BO will have no successors at the end of the year. Because there will be no Ballon d’Or 2020 edition. Why?
“• Because such a singular year cannot – and should not – be treated as an ordinary year. When in doubt, it is better to abstain than to persist.
“• Because the Ballon d’Or trophy conveys other values – like exemplarity, solidarity and responsibility – rather than merely sporting excellence alone.
“• Because the fairness that prevails for this honorary title could not be preserved, in particular at the statistical level and also in the preparation since all the aspirants to the award could not be housed in the same boat, some having seen their season cut radically short, others not. So how can we compare the incomparable?
“• Because we did not want to put an indelible asterisk on the prize list like “trophy won in exceptional circumstances due to the Covid-19 health crisis” . We will always prefer a small sprain (to our history) to a large scar. This is the first time since 1956 that the Ballon d’Or has taken a break. The situation does not enchant us but seems to us the most responsible and logical decision. Protecting the credibility and legitimacy of such an award also means ensuring its flawlessness over time.
