France Football announced the date to release the 30-man shortlist as football fans gear to see their favorite player crowned.
The 61st edition of the prestigious global football award is set to be presented to the most outstanding player of the year. The French accolade was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year prize and became the FIFA Ballon d’Or until France Football announced in September 2016 the end of their six-year partnership with World Football’s governing body.
Last year marked the first Ballon d’Or award since the split with FIFA and it was won by Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo who was deemed to have performed extraordinarily among other football stars. The superstar went on to win the inaugural Best FIFA Men’s Player award in 2016, rounding up a sensational season where he was instrumental for both club and country. Cristiano won the Champions League with Los Blancos and the European Championship with the Portuguese national team that year.
This year, he boasts several achievements. These include scooping La Liga title for the first time since 2012, claiming a record back-to-back UEFA Champions League triumph and, in the process, staging an outstanding individual comeback in the UCL topscorers race.
Ballon d’Or 2017: 30-man shortlist announcement schedule
Mark your calendars on Monday, October 9, 2017. This is when all eyes will be on France Football’s platforms. Here’s how and when the nominees will be revealed:
3 AM ET/7 AM GMT/9 AM CET:
France Football will reveal the first batch of 15 nominees.
From 11:45 AM ET/3:45 PM GMT/5:45 PM CET till 1:45 PM ET/5:45 PM GMT/7:45 PM CET:
The last batch of 15 nominees will be revealed.
Other points of the 2017 Ballon d’Or 30-man shortlist coverage to note:
- Live streaming will be available on francefootball.fr and also on L’Equipe’s channel.
- France Football will release a special edition of their magazine on October 10, dedicated to the Ballon d’Or.
- France Football’s online subscribers will have early access to that special edition on Monday, October 9 from 12 PM ET/4 PM GMT/6 PM CET.
Ronaldo is expected to lead the list of nominees with other players like Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Gianluigi Buffon set to make the cut. The Ballon d’Or 2017 winner’s name will be made official on December 6. You can read more about Team CRD’s Top 10 choice.
