The Ballon d’Or changes face! France Football, the main organizer of the trophy, has announced four major changes from this year concerning the most prized individual distinction on the planet. The rules for the Ballon d’Or 2022 have therefore evolved. There will be two new criteria and a new calendar at the beginning of March. A small revolution that seems favorable to Karim Benzema. The trophy will now be awarded at the end of the football season (August 2021 to July 2022) and no longer over a calendar year (January-December).
1) Merit will be judged on the football season and no longer on the calendar year.
2) Only representatives of the top 100 FIFA rankings will vote. This handicaps Sadio Mané with Africa, which thus loses around twenty voters.
3) The panel of specialists responsible for drawing up the list of candidates will be reinforced, with Didier Drogba at its head.
4) Priority will be given to the individual performance and decisiveness of the named players. Which means that even if BEnzema doesn’t win the Champions League, he can win the Ballon d’Or. It is obvious that the main revolution of this reform is at the level of the calendar. Clearly, the Ballon d’Or now rewards the best players of the past season, from August to July, and no longer of the calendar year, in order to stick to the different competitions.
An announcement that could not have come at a better time for Benzema who, at 34, is certainly living the best moment of his career. The Frenchman is a top scorer in La Liga, he has just overtaken Di Stéfano as the third top scorer in the history of Real Madrid and has become the top French scorer in history ahead of Thierry Henry… In total, he has 37 goals in 37 games this season. A mind-boggling pace for KB9. In terms of titles, and if we stick now to the fact that the Ballon d’Or is awarded over the season, it should be noted that Benzema scored an important goal to help France win the Nations League (1-2) against Spain, he then lifted the Spanish Super Cup with his club, and is more than ever on the right track as far as La Liga is concerned. Not to mention the fact that the Frenchman is still in the race for the Champions League after his 5-star performances against PSG and Chelsea…
Obviously, the season is not over and like every year, the competition will be fierce. A simple tour of Europe is enough to find him serious competitors to the former Lyonnais. Among the contenders for the title of best player in the world, Sadio Mané also remains as one of the favorites for this trophy. Fourth in the 2021 Ballon d’Or (BO) ranking, the best ranking of his career, Karim Benzema does not drop in pace and is heading straight for the 2022 podium, or even much better. Having become the third top scorer in the history of Real Madrid, ahead of Alfredo Di Stéfano, the Frenchman will above all be judged on his stats and his club titles. The Merengues sit at the top of La Liga and are heading for a Spanish league title. With his hat-trick in the Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea, he was already acclaimed as the next Ballon d’Or.