While the verdict is in ten days, three nations have lost their right to vote for the 2025 edition of the prestigious award.
The approach of the verdict always creates its share of surprises. Ten days before the 2025 gold ball ceremony,
scheduled for September 22, Information made a surface that risks relaunching controversies around the prestigious trophy. Three countries find themselves dismissed from the voters' panel for this edition, a situation that could make the purists cringe. A change in the composition of the jury which will not fail to feed discussions on the criteria for selecting voters.
Broke in the Golden Ball panel
In reality, nothing abnormal in this modification. Vincent Garcia, editor -in -chief of France Football,
confirmed during a podcast behind the scenes of the Ballon d'Or
Let Trinité-et-Tobago, Namibia and Armenia lost their right to vote. These three nations simply leave the top 100 of the FIFA ranking, a sine qua non condition to participate in the jury since the reform of 2022. They are replaced by Guatemala, Mozambique and Kosovo, new entrants in this closed circle.
This annual rotation is an integral part of the new system set up to restore price credibility. Since 2022, only journalists of the 100 best FIFA nations can vote, a measure taken after the scandals of the 2010s where aberrant votes of micro-states disrupted the results. The objective: to avoid the top 10 wacky countries little exposed to international football, which sometimes placed local players in front of Messi or Ronaldo.
Golden ball 2025: Surprise rotation among voters
Games are made
The reform had been necessary after several controversies, especially in 2017 with allegations of voting manipulation, or these delusional bulletins of nations like the Sri Lanka who completely ignored world stars. By limiting the jury to the first 100 FIFA countries, France Football guarantees minimal expertise and knowledge of high -level football at its voters.
The votes being now closed, this rotation will not impact this year's verdict. Each juror has already transmitted its top 10 among the 30 nominees revealed in early August, according to the point system introduced in 2024 (15 points for the first, 12 for the second, etc.). This running mechanics will be repeated next year with potentially other changes according to the evolution of the FIFA ranking. A now standardized process that makes the Ballon d'Or a price in perpetual adaptation.
