Ballon d’Or to be awarded in November

Football’s prestigious Ballon d’Or will be awarded on November 29 in Paris, event organiser France Football magazine announced on Wednesday.

The nominees for the awards, which include men’s and women’s player of the year, best young player and best goalkeeper, will be announced on October 8.

Six-time winners Lionel Messi and Megan Rapinoe won the awards the last time they were held in 2019.

Last year’s event was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

While upstaged recently by FIFA’s own awards, the Ballon d’Or, whose first recipient was Stanley Matthews in 1956, remains one of the most coveted individual awards in football.