PARIS, France – The organizers of the Ballon d’Or have formally reaffirmed the definitive three-pillar criteria governing the voting process for football’s most prestigious individual honour, issuing guidance to the international jury of journalists as deliberations intensify ahead of the 2026 awards gala, European football authorities confirmed on Saturday, September 12, 2026.
Jointly administered by France Football and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the official directive clarifies how specialized media voters drawn from the top 100 nations in the FIFA world rankings must evaluate candidates following an eventful 2025–2026 campaign headlined by the expanded FIFA World Cup.
Okay News reports that under the established regulatory framework, the primary and most decisive benchmark remains individual performance, requiring jurors to evaluate a player’s decisive match contributions, technical consistency, and overall influence on the pitch during high-stakes domestic and international fixtures.
The second voting parameter centers on collective achievements, measuring the silverware and major titles won by the player’s club and national teams, while assessing the candidate’s personal prominence and leadership in securing those collective honours throughout the season.
The third foundational metric focuses on exemplary sportsmanship and fair play, holding that a contender’s behavioral conduct, professional ethics, and adherence to respect and class on the pitch must serve as a defining standard of global footballing excellence.
The fresh guidance reinforces an earlier institutional clarification issued by the award organizers in late July 2026, which cautioned voters and commentators that lifting the FIFA World Cup trophy does not automatically guarantee winning the golden ball.
In that earlier intervention, organizers highlighted historical voting patterns demonstrating that since the eligibility rules were opened globally in 1995, only four of the last seven World Cup-winning stars went on to claim the Ballon d’Or in the same calendar year, representing a historical conversion rate of approximately 57 percent.
The organizers reiterated that while a standout World Cup campaign substantially enhances a candidate’s profile, the accolade is awarded to the footballer judged to have delivered the most sustained, elite performance across the entirety of the season rather than an isolated four-week tournament.
With global debates mounting over the leading contenders from European leagues and summer international competitions, the reminder of the three core principles is intended to harmonize jury standards and ensure that individual brilliance, collective success, and professional integrity remain the sole arbiters of the world’s top individual prize.
