THE organisers of the France prestigious football award, the Ballon d'Or, on Friday, August 12, 2022, released a 30- man shortlist for the year 2022 edition of the award.
The 30-man shortlist released on Friday by L'Equipe and France Football was a surprise to football fans as the names on the list did not include that of a 7-time winner, Lionel Messi.
Questions were asked on why the name of the former Barcelona captain who has been on the list since 2005 was not there this time.
The French publication explained that the reason he was exempted was based on the modification of the Ballon d'Or criteria, pointing out that it is now based on the football season and not the calendar year and that Messi's performances were below par.
Recall that despite winning the French Ligue1 with PSG, Messi scored just six goals in Ligue 1 and was eliminated by Real Madrid from the Champions League in the last 16.
However, Ronaldo who is a top rival to Lionel Messi made the list while Messi's teammate at PSG, Neymar Jnr was also not on the list while Kylian Mbappe was the only PSG player to make the list.
