UEFA will organize the Ballon d’Or gala from 2024, the European football governing body and the media group Amaury, owner of the magazine France Football, which awards the award, announced on Friday.
The group, which also owns the French daily L’Équipe, will remain responsible “for overseeing the voting system” for the award that recognizes the best footballer in the world in a given sporting season, which “will remain unchanged and independent”.
According to UEFA’s statement, the continental body will be responsible for managing commercial rights worldwide and organizing the annual awards gala, which “for more than 70 years (…) remained the most prestigious individual award in the world of football “.
“UEFA and the Ballon d’Or are synonymous with sporting excellence, so our partnership will be a natural mix of fame and a synergy that promises to be nothing less than exceptional,” said the president of the governing body of European football , the Slovenian Aleksander Ceferin. .
Two new awards were also created, with a view to rewarding the best coaches of men’s and women’s teams of the season, joining the eight existing ones: Ballon d’Or (men and women), Yashin Trophy (goalkeeper ), Kopa (young player), Gerd Müller (scorer), club (men and women) and Sócrates (solidarity initiative).
Source: DN
