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The Ballon d'Or 2025 gala is scheduled to take place today, September 22, in Paris, and the three main criteria for the award have now been announced. A jury of journalists from around the world has already voted for the award, and the winner is set to be announced at the Théâtre du Châtelet.
The 30 nominees for the award were announced on August 7th, and the voting ended earlier this month. The journalists knew the criteria they had to judge the players, and it has now been revealed to the fans.
The Ballon d'Or account on X has stated that the first criterion will be individual performances, as well as decisive and impressive character. The players with the best stats from the 2024/25 season will get the main preference, as they stood out during the season.
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Team performances and achievements will be the next to be considered. PSG players currently hold the upper hand in this criterion, as they won the European treble last season and also reached the FIFA Club World Cup final. The final criterion will be class and fair play, focusing on players who showed outstanding sportsmanship.
Each journalist voting will have to pick 10 of the 30 nominees in order, and each position gets posts. They will get 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 points respectively, and the player with the most points will be awarded the Ballon d'Or.
In case of a tie, the player with the most first-place votes will be selected as the winner. In case of another tie, the second-place votes will be counted, then the third, and so on.
The final deciding factor in any dispute would be the vote of he editor-in-chief of France Football, as they are the organisers.
France Football editor-in-chief comments on Ballon d'Or 2025 winner
Vincent Garcia, the editor-in-chief of France Football, has revealed that only he knows the winner of the 2025 Ballon d'Or award. He wanted to put an end to social media speculations as rumors spread about who had finished first this year. He told TeleFoot (via Fabrizio Romano):
"I am the only one who knows the winner of the Ballon d’Or."
Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal and PSG forward Ousmane Dembele are touted to be the front-runners for the award this year. The two had a stellar 2024/25 season and have been the pick for most pundits and fans this year.
