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The 66th Ballon d'Or award ceremony is set to take place in Paris on October 17, with several of football's most prestigious individual honors set to be handed out.
Lionel Messi and Alexia Putellas are the current holders of the top prizes, although the men's award will almost certainly have a brand new winner this year. The Kopa Trophy is presented to the best-performing under-21 player, and the Yashin Trophy, which recognizes the best goalkeeper, will also be awarded.
The Ballon d'Or also has brand new rules around its voting system this year, but where can you watch or stream the event? And who are the favorites to grab the evening's top honors?
Where to watch Ballon D'or 2022
The ceremony will take place on Monday (October 17) at Theatre du Chatelet and will begin at midnight IST. Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) has acquired exclusive rights to broadcast the awards live on Sony Ten 2 channels, with coverage beginning at 22:20.
Eurosport have the rights to broadcast the glamorous ceremony in the UK, with the event beginning at 19:30 BST. In the USA, Paramount+ will show the presentations, with red carpet coverage beginning at 12:50 EST (09:50 PST), with the main ceremony being shown at 14:30 EST.
Paramount+ will also showcase an hour-long press conference beginning at 16:00 EST featuring interviews with the winners.
Ballon d'Or Streaming details
The ceremony will be available to stream live for free on L'Equipe's website and YouTube channel.
In India and the sub-continent, the awards will also be live-streamed on SPN's on-demand OTT platform SonyLiv. Eurosport's official app and website will showcase the event in the UK, while Paramount + have the rights in the USA.
Change in rules for voting
This year's nominations for all the awards were released on August 12, more than two months before the winners will be revealed. This will be the first time in the honor's 66-year history that the winner will be based on what was achieved in a season, rather than the calendar year.
The new system is designed to cover the most important period with a more concise jury, tighter selection process and clearer award criteria. According to CBS Sports, France Football has specified that 'individual performances' and 'decisive and impressive character of contenders' will be the leading criteria.
The award will also be based 'the collective aspect and trophies won' as well as 'the player's class and sense of fair play'.
Nominees for Ballon d'Or and Ballon d'Or Feminin
Men's 2022 Ballon d'Or nominations (All clubs were teams the individuals played for in the 2021-22 season):
Women's 2022 Ballon d'Or nominations:
Prediction
Due to his incredible form in the Champions League, Karim Benzema of Real Madrid is the red-hot favorite to win the award. Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Robert Lewandowski may also be in with a shout.
However, it is hard to look past the impact that Benzema had for Los Blancos as he netted 44 times in 46 appearances last season.
As for the women's title, Alexia Putellas could claim back-to-back titles despite her serious injury, which kept her out of the European Championships.
