The Golden Ball (Ballon d’Or in French) is the award given by the magazine France Football to the strongest footballer of the year and the edition of 2023-2024 is scheduled for the evening of Monday 28 October at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Parisstarting at 6.45pm (with the actual ceremony at 8.45pm). Big favorites they are Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid in the men’s category (followed by Rodri, Carvajal, Bellingham and Inter player Lautaro Martinez) and Aitana Bonmati of Barcelona in the women’s category. For the first time, the list of possible candidates does not include sacred monsters such as Lionel Messi (who holds the record of 8 awards won and won last year, 2022-2023) and Cristiano Ronaldo (5 awards).
The recognition was established in 1956 and initially it was reserved for only people male players of European nationality. From the 1995 has been extended to professionals of any nationality provided they are under contract for European clubs. So, from 2007it was decided that it could be won by a player belonging to any championship affiliated with FIFA. Finally, from 2018 the award was also introduced for female footballers women’s championships. Nowadays the Ballon d’Or is awarded based on the preferences expressed by one international jury made up of journalistsselected among the nations whose national football team is in the Top 100 of the FIFA rankings. The selection criteria include the analysis of individual and collective performances in the reference year of the award (in this case from 1 August 2023 to 31 July 2024), the class and the fair play shown in the various matches and competitions.
How the Golden Ball is made: characteristics, weight and value
So let’s get to the Ballon d’Or in and of itself. Here, even if the name of the award recalls gold, the trophy it is not entirely solid gold. It is made every year by the renowned Parisian fashion house Mellerio (historic French jewelery but of Italian origins, as revealed by the surname that gives its name to the brand) and is built starting from two brass hemispheresfill with cement dust to increase weight and stability. This structure comes next plated with 18k gold foilgiving the trophy its appearance. Finally, the balloon is mounted on a pyrite basea mineral known for its resemblance to gold, which gives it stability and an overall weight of over 7kg. As for dimensions, the trophy measures 31 cm in height, 23 cm in width and 23 cm in depth. Consider that the manufacturing process of the award requires almost 100 hours of work and begins 6 months before delivery.
Although the trophy is only gold plated and the actual value of the materials of which it is composed therefore “limited” (according to some estimates, around $3000), its theoretical economic value on the market (not absolutely estimable) depends on its uniqueness, shortageas well as from his meaning and from his being a symbol. Receiving the Ballon d’Or often represents the pinnacle of a career: for many footballers, it is a dream cultivated since childhood which goes beyond the value of the trophy itself, given that it contains years of sacrifices and personal and team successes .
