Who Decides the Ballon d'Or Winner? Voting & Format Explained

The 69th edition of the Ballon d'Or is here, and the event takes place in Paris, France. The best players in the world will be there to awarded, and who decides the winners of the night are among many questions about the event.

While the best players in the world will be present, others will miss out — including Ousmane Dembélé and the entire PSG squad.

Ligue 1 officials postponed the clash against Olympique Marseille to Monday, September 22, due to bad weather.

Dembélé, sidelined with a hamstring injury, could still attend the ceremony, but the decision sparked controversy in the French media.

In the past decade, very few players have won the Ballon d’Or besides Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. But with both stars now out of contention — though still playing at a professional level — the select group of journalists voting for the award will have to look elsewhere, as they did in recent years with Rodri and Karim Benzema.

Who Decides the Ballon d'Or Winner?

The best player of the world award is the main event, but others will also receive honors from the magazine France Football, who organizes the ceremony and select the winners based on votes.

The responsibility falls to journalists from around the world. France Football, the magazine behind the award, invites one journalist from each of the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations in men’s football (and top 50 in women’s) to cast their votes.

Each journalist selects five players, ranking them from first to fifth, with points given accordingly — six for first place, four for second, three for third, two for fourth, and one for fifth. The player with the highest total is crowned Ballon d’Or winner.

Until 2016, captains and coaches of national teams also had a say, but now the decision is left exclusively to the press.