Ballon d'Or: trophy to be awarded after the sporting season and not the calendar year from 2021-22

The Ballon d'Or will henceforth be awarded after the end of a sporting season, and no longer at the end of the calendar year, from the end of the 2021-22 season, according to the French sports media group L'Équipe on 11/03/2022. The exact date for the award has not yet been communicated, but the list of 30 nominees will be revealed in September 2022.

The group, which owns the France Football magazine that has awarded the best player of the year since 1956, has announced a total of four changes to the Ballon d'Or awards: the calendar, new voters for the list of 30 nominees, a ballot reserved for jurors (journalists) from the top 100 nations in the FIFA rankings, and changes to the award criteria (see details below).

List of awards during the Ballon d'Or ceremony:
⚽️ Ballon d'Or (since 1956)
⚽️ Women's Ballon d'Or (since 2018)
⚽️ Kopa Trophy, for the best young player of the year (since 2018)
⚽️ Yashin Trophy, for the best goalkeeper of the year (since 2019)

Ballon d'Or: four changes

"A more consistent schedule"