The Ballon d’Or is the pinnacle of individual recognition that a player can get. Each year, France Football organizes the Ballon d’Or ceremony to honor the best player in the world for the season in both the men’s and women’s divisions. The ceremony has been going on for years except for last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, resuming the tradition, France Football will be organizing the Ballon d’Or ceremony on 29th November. As is the ritual, months before, the committee releases a 30-player shortlist for the trophy. In this article, we’ll take a look at the clubs which have the most number of players shortlisted.
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Who shortlists the players for Ballon d’Or 2021?
The Ballon d’Or, being one of the most prestigious awards, chooses its winners in a specific protocol. For starters, 180 journalists from around the world are chosen by France Football in the selection process for the 30 men’s nominees. In the case of the 20 women candidates, 50 football journalists are chosen.
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ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – JANUARY 12: Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Real Madrid receive the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or award for the player of the year during the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala 2014 at the Kongresshaus on January 12, 2015, in Zurich, Switzerland. (Photo by Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images)
As far as selecting the Ballon d’Or winner is concerned, these journalists along with the captains of all recognized national teams nominate three players in their choice of order to win the prestigious award, Their votes are then tallied and the player with the most votes and points wins the trophy.
Who are the shortlisted players for the award?
This year’s 30 player nominations include the usual suspects like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Neymar JR, and Kylian Mbappe. The surprise inclusions this time are AC Milan’s Simon Kjaer and Chelsea’s Mason Mount. Apart from that and some surprise exclusions, football fans were happy with the list.
BREAKING: The full 30-man shortlist for the 2021 Ballon d'Or has been revealed.
The winner of this year's award should be…..? ? pic.twitter.com/BwCd3hmrcB
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) October 8, 2021
The shortlist was naturally dominated by players from Chelsea and Manchester City. The two teams who competed in the Champions League finals last season had 5 players each nominated. Just behind them are Ligue 1 giants PSG with 4 players followed by Serie A powerhouses Inter Milan and Juventus with 2 players each.
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