Ballon d'Or gets date in Paris that lets more women nominees attend soccer's biggest awards

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PARIS (AP) — The Ballon d’Or ceremony to award the most coveted individual honors in soccer finally has a better date for women nominees to be there.

The awards for 2025 will be presented on Sept. 22 in Paris, UEFA said Monday.

This time, the ceremony does not clash with international match dates in women’s soccer when players are on mandatory duty in camp with national teams.

“We are proud to expand our recognition to include three new categories celebrating the achievements of female players,” said UEFA, which has since last year jointly organized the storied event with the publishing house that owns “France Football” magazine.

Women players and coaches criticized organizers in each of the past two years when most could not be in Paris for the gala ceremony in a downtown theater.

Those ceremonies were on Oct. 30, 2023 and Oct. 28, 2024 — Monday evenings in weeks when there were no men’s games in the Champions League or for national teams.

Sept. 22 is again a Monday in a free week for the Champions League, plus no qualifying games for the 2026 World Cup. And not for the women either.

The Ballon d’Or winners last year were both from Spain: Manchester City midfielder Rodri and Barcelona playmaker Aitana Bonmatí. She also won the previous year.

The new categories for women will recognise the best young player, best goalkeeper and top scorer for club/national team.

Nominations for the 2025 awards will be announced in August, UEFA said.

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