Who votes for the Ballon d'Or, and why did the rules keep changing?

For its first four decades the Ballon d'Or had a very European jury and a very European field: until 2006 it was based exclusively on voting by football journalists, and originally it went only to players from Europe, which is why it was also called the European Footballer of the Year award. That rule had consequences. Pelé won three World Cups with Brazil, but because only European-based players were eligible for the original award during his career, he was handed an honorary Ballon d'Or only in 2013. Diego Maradona got an honorary "Golden Ballon d'Or" in 1995.

In 1995 the rules changed to include all players of any origin active at European clubs. That same year Liberia's George Weah became the first non-European winner. He dedicated his FIFA World Player of the Year award to his former manager Arsène Wenger, saying it was thanks to him that he developed into a world-class player. Weah later became president of Liberia, serving from 2018 to 2024. Two years later Ronaldo of Brazil became the first South American without a European citizenship to win, at 21 years and 96 days still the youngest winner ever.

The next change came in 2007, when all professional footballers anywhere became eligible. During the merger with FIFA's prize, from 2010 to 2015, the coaches and captains of national teams voted alongside international journalists; in 2016 voting reverted to journalists alone. In 2022 France Football brought in a jury of specialized journalists, one per country from the top 100 of the FIFA men's ranking.