Ballon d'Or: Ronaldo, Messi, others miss out on award due to coronavirus pandemic

- Ballon d'Or will produce no winner this year despite completing the footballing season across the world

- France Football released a statement that the ceremony was canceled because of the effect of the global pandemic

- Lionel Messi and Megan Rapinoe will remain unchallenged for the men's and women's categories

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Ballon d'Or will not be contested by any player in 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus in most parts of the year.

France Football who regularly hold the ceremony claim that there are lack of sufficient fair conditions to give the award to any player in all categories.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have dominated the awards for over a decade and the Barcelona star who currently holds the 2019 edition, will remain unchallenged until 2021.

Messi has won six accolades while his rival Ronaldo has five under his belts and both superstars would have been in contention or the 2020 award if it had not been canceled.

The likes of Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne would also have also been in the race for the individual trophy.

The Women's category which was also scooped by United States striker Megan Rapinoe will not have a successor in December.

France Football released a statement and said: “For the first time in its history, which began in 1956, the Ballon d'Or will not be awarded in 2020, due to the lack of sufficient fair conditions.

“Messi and Rapinoe (as well as [Mattijs] de Ligt and Alisson, winners of the Kopa and Yachine Trophies [for young player and goalkeeper]) will have to wait a year. The winners of the last edition will have no successors at the end of the year. Because there will be no Ballon d'Or 2020 edition.

"Why? Because such a singular year cannot - and should not - be treated as an ordinary year. When in doubt, it is better to abstain than to persist.

“Because the Ballon d'Or trophy conveys other values - like exemplarity, solidarity and responsibility - rather than merely sporting excellence alone.

“Because the fairness that prevails for this honorary title could not be preserved, in particular at the statistical level and also in the preparation since all the aspirants to the award could not be rightly compared, some having seen their season cut radically short, others not. So how can we compare the incomparable?

"Because of our approximately 220 jurors (men and women combined) distributed around the world, some may have been distracted or diverted from their observation due to other priorities and emergencies to manage.

“We did not want to put an indelible asterisk on the prize list like “trophy won in exceptional circumstances due to the Covid-19 health crisis”. We will always prefer a small sprain to our history to a large scar.

"The Ballon d'Or story is too precious to take the risk of damaging it with a wobbly exercise. In these turbulent times, taking a break is a luxury and an invaluable necessity. So that football, as a whole, regains momentum, passion and emotion.”

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that Robin van Persie believes the next winner of the Ballon d'Or award should not come from either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.

The former Man United striker wants Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski to win the coveted award with Man City's Kevin De Bruyne and Liverpool's Sadio Mane in the top three.

If Van Persie's predictions come to pass, it would be the first time since 2006 that neither Messi nor Ronaldo finished in the top three.

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Source: Legit.ng