Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi was obstrusively absent among the nominees for the Ballon d’Or for the first time as the list that was revealed on Friday included notables Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah as France Football magazine announced on their website the 30 players vying for the prestigious award in 2022.
Also known as the prestigious Golden Ball Award, the Ballon d’Or is awarded meritoriously to the sport’s best player.
Messi, 35, the former Barcelona legend and current Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) luminary, has won the award a record seven times, with his most recent in 2021.
Unsurprisingly, La Pulga has not been nominated for the award for the first time since 2005, with this omission being the high price he is now paying for an underwhelming first season with Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi had been a perennial fixture amongst the nominations since 2006, besides featuring regularly in the top three since 2007 with the exception of 2018.
A change in the format has also worked against the Argentine superstar with the Ballon d’Or no longer acknowledging the best player over a calendar year. Instead, it is based on a season’s record highlighting “the individual performances” and the “decisive and impressive character” of the nominees, according to the criteria.
After leaving Barcelona in the summer of 2021, Messi encountered teething problems adapting to his new environment in Paris and was unable to stamp his genius on a PSG team vying desperate for a Champions League title but were forced to suffer a last-16 exit at the hands of eventual winners Real Madrid with a totally unexpected 30-minute Karim Benzema- induced blietzkrieg wiping out all their hopes.
In total, Messi scored only 11 goals for PSG with his relatively lukewarm club form failing to impress his new Parc des Princes fans and, clearly, France Football magazine, the organisers of the Ballon d’Or which will be awarded in Paris on October 17.
Like Messi, another PSG star, Neymar, from Brazil was also left off the ballot after a season where he scored only 13 goals in 28 matches.