How the Ballon d'Or ceremony became football's answer to the Oscars

The initial idea of recognising the best European footballer on an annual basis was, according to Gerard Ejnes, born out of "boredom", with the writers and editors behind France Football "always looking for something to invent, even to sell more copies".

It was eventually opened up to players of all nationalities plying their trade in Europe in 1995, while it only became a global award in 2007 before women's prizes began to be added in 2018. Consequently, illustrious names such as Garrincha, Pele and Diego Maradona are all conspicuous by their absence from the winners' list.

In that sense, France Football deserves credit for cultivating a mystique and aura around the award that it didn't really have for the vast majority of its existence. However, there is simply no getting away from the fact that the main reason why the Ballon d'Or became the most coveted prize in football had nothing to do with the organisers.

Rather, they were simply blessed that two of the finest players the game has ever seen emerged not only at the same time, but also during an era of greater media coverage than ever before.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi basically made the Ballon d'Or. They were - and still are - the two most popular players on the planet and, before the Portuguese suffered a dramatic decline in quality five years ago, it was impossible to avoid the ludicrous but heated debate over who was superior.

As a result, the Ballon d'Or became a key battleground between their respective sets of supporters, as the award was seen as some sort of independent and reliable adjudicator. Obviously, nothing could have been further from the truth.

There have been a litany of dubious decisions over the years - some involving Ronaldo and Messi, who shared the Ballon d'Or between themselves for a decade (2007- 2017). However, it didn't really matter to France Football who won. As long as both Ronaldo and Messi were in contention, they couldn't really lose. As former director Pascal Ferre once admitted, "They fought mano-a-mano for 10 years and France Football benefitted."

Indeed, an entire generation grew up watching two living legends battling it out for what appeared to be a very valuable title - and the organisers took full advantage.

Long gone are the days when the editor-in-chief of France Football would count the votes in his kitchen before his wife typed up the results. The Ballon d'Or is now big business. This year's ceremony will be hosted by Thierry Henry and Kate Scott, attended by more than 2,000 people, and covered by media outlets all across the globe.

The whole event has essentially become football's answer to the Oscars, which is why anybody who's anybody wants to be seen there, and why clubs push their contenders like movie studios push nominees. As Ferre told Bleacher Report, "An actor who wins an Oscar becomes much more bankable. A player who wins the Ballon d'Or increases in market value."

Of course, when the potential rewards are so great, the risk of corruption increases, and Ferre has revealed that attempts have been made by agents and players to buy votes.

However, the mere fact that players now list the Ballon d'Or as one of their primary career goals is eye-opening in itself, with Trent Alexander-Arnold admitting that, for him, winning the trophy ranked above lifting another Premier League or Champions League with Liverpool, or even becoming captain of his hometown club. Consequently, the right-back's subsequent move to Real Madrid didn't come as that much of a surprise, given no club cares more about the Ballon d'Or than Los Blancos, who embarrassingly went so far as to boycott the ceremony in 2024 after learning that Vinicius Junior had been pipped to the top prize by Rodri.

Such behaviour from players and teams is obviously over the top - but it's also utterly unsurprising. Arsene Wenger saw all this coming a decade ago, when he said he was "against the Ballon d'Or" because he had “seen careers destroyed because the players are too obsessed with getting individual awards".

The former Arsenal boss added, "I feel sometimes it encourages selfishness." Jose Mourinho even agreed with his arch-enemy, "At this moment, football is losing a little bit the concept of the team to focus more on the individual."

The situation has only intensified in the interim, to the point where world-class players have spent the opening weeks of the season hitting the campaign trail themselves, attempting to sway voters with arguments outlining their greatness.

According to Ferre, such desperate appeals are unlikely to work. "I've always said that a Ballon d'Or isn't won on the media stage, but it can certainly be lost there," the Frenchman told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "This year's award is particularly hotly contested, but making too much noise can irritate voters who aren't easily fooled."

Such behaviour from players and teams is obviously over the top - but it's also utterly unsurprising. Arsene Wenger saw all this coming a decade ago, when he said he was "against the Ballon d'Or" because he had “seen careers destroyed because the players are too obsessed with getting individual awards".

The former Arsenal boss added, "I feel sometimes it encourages selfishness." Jose Mourinho even agreed with his arch-enemy, "At this moment, football is losing a little bit the concept of the team to focus more on the individual."

The situation has only intensified in the interim, to the point where world-class players such as Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal have spent the opening weeks of the season hitting the campaign trail themselves, attempting to sway voters with arguments outlining their greatness.

According to Ferre, such desperate appeals are unlikely to work. "I've always said that a Ballon d'Or isn't won on the media stage, but it can certainly be lost there," the Frenchman told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "This year's award is particularly hotly contested, but making too much noise can irritate voters who aren't easily fooled."

In total, 86 players and 10 coaches across the men's and women's game are nominated for at least one prize on Monday, and if recent years are anything to go by, the vast majority will make their way to London on Monday, regardless of their chances of taking home a prize. Clubs will charter private jets to carry their nominees to the English capital, with this an opportunity for those clubs with successful men's and women's teams to showcase their talent together on the red carpet.

It's a far cry from how things played out during the Messi-Ronaldo era, when the pair, along with a third finalist, would travel to either Paris or Switzerland (FIFA co-organised the award between 2010-15) for a pre-ceremony press conference before the trophy was handed out the following night. It was still a major event in the football calendar, but the number of contemporary players in attendance could be counted on one hand.

The introduction of the women's Ballon d'Or 2018, and subsequent moves to add further awards to mimic the various men's trophies, has added to the feeling that is now football's biggest night in terms of bringing elite performers from across the game together in one room. The decision to bring the ceremony forward from late November, when it generally clashed with a women's international break, has also allowed for more female players to attend.

The controversial call to move the event away from Paris is, France Football claim, a temporary one, designed to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Matthews' inaugural win. However, it's difficult not to wonder whether there might be an increased chance of persuading non-footballing celebrities to attend an awards show in London rather than Paris (notwithstanding the nature of the protests that are currently engulfing the French capital), and thus a permanent relocation is unlikely to be off the table for what an event that increasingly resembles the biggest night in Hollywood.

And so go grab your tuxedo, put on your fanciest frock and buckle in for the Ballon d'Or ceremony - we're not in Blackpool anymore!