France Football magazine has confirmed that the the prestigious football award, Ballon d’Or will not be awarded this year.
This means the annual prize will not be given to the best footballer in the world since 1956, with the women’s Ballon d’Or was first awarded in 2018.
The 2019-20 season has been suspended from COVID-19 outbreak, including all the major European leagues and international competitions such as the European Championship and Copa America.
The final stages of the Champions League, from the quarter-finals, have also been rescheduled as a mini-tournament featuring single leg matches behind closed doors in Portugal next month.
“From a sports perspective, two months (January and February), out of the eleven generally required to form an opinion and decide who should lift the trophies, represent far too little to gauge and judge,” Pascal Ferre, editor-in-chief of France Football said.
“… Without forgetting that the other games were played – or will be played – in extraordinary conditions (behind closed doors, with five replacements).”
This also means that Lionel Messi, who has won a record six times and his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo will miss the honour.
This season, Messi has scored 20 goals and 20 assists in La Liga, while Ronaldo scored 30 goals.
However, France Football said they will elect an all-time ‘Dream Team’ at the end of the year.