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France Football Association, (FFA) Monday, announced the cancellation of this year’s edition of the prestigious Ballon d’Or award due to the heavy blow on football by the coronavirus pandemic which shut down nearly football activities globally, the first time in the history of the event.
The host country hinted that due to lack of ‘sufficient fair conditions’ in the sport there were with no options than to cancel the event, the first since 1956.
Also, with clustered fixtures of league matches and of the continental competitions like to Champions League and the Europa Cup.
“Protecting the credibility and legitimacy of such an award also means ensuring its flawlessness over time,” said FFA.
All categories in the award such as the best female player won’t be crowned, as well as the best defender and goalkeeper which went to Juventus’ Matthijs de Ligt and Liverpool’s Alisson last year won’t be needed.
Pundits believe that Lionel Messi would have been the favourite to win the honour for a 7th time after his phenomenal season with the Catalans.
In addition, other high-profile superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Roberto Lewandowski would’ve been in the running after individual outstanding performances.
The Argentine has already bagged 7 Ballon d’Or award in his career, the Barcelona superstar has been phenomenal this season with a staggering 30 goals and 26 assists.
