In the eyes of the president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), Aleksander Ceferin, “there was meaning in doing something together”. Friday November 3, the Amaury group, owner of L’Equipe and France Football, creator of the Ballon d’or, announced the signing of a partnership with UEFA to jointly organize the award ceremony for the prestigious individual award, starting next year.
The Amaury group will remain the owner of the Ballon d’Or trophy and will continue to supervise the vote. The electoral college, made up of 100 journalists from the top 100 nations in the International Federation (FIFA) rankings, also remains unchanged. UEFA will be responsible for the commercial rights to the prize and will co-organize the annual ceremony.
Two new prizes will also be awarded: those for the best coach for men and women, which will be added to the eight existing trophies – Men’s Golden Ball, Women’s Golden Ball, Kopa trophy for best young person, Yachine trophy for best goalkeeper, Gerd-Müller Trophy for top scorer, the men’s club of the year, the women’s club of the year and the Socrates prize rewarding the societal or charitable initiatives of players.
“Meeting between the two best brands in football”
“We are very happy with this partnership (…). [The Golden Ball] is a trophy created in 1956 by France Football, the same year as the creation of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup, so there is a common history between UEFA and the Golden Ball trophy. ‘gold,’ said Jean-Etienne Amaury, general manager of the Amaury group.
“For fifteen years, the ceremony has taken on a global scale with worldwide media coverage,” he added. So the partnership with UEFA makes perfect sense, since it is one of the major players in this sport. » The annual ceremony is held in Paris, but there will also be the possibility, after 2024, of organizing it in other major European capitals, according to the leader.
“It’s the meeting between the two best brands in football. On the one hand, THE football trophy is the Ballon d’Or, and on the other hand, UEFA has the best competition in the world [the Champions League],” explained, for his part, the president of UEFA.
Created in 1956, France Football magazine’s Golden Ball first crowned the best European player, before rewarding, from 2007, the best player in the world. Its format has also evolved, since since 2022 it has taken into account performances during the sporting season, and no longer over a calendar year.
