France Football and Group L’Equipe announced that they won’t be hosting this year’s Ballon D’or due to ongoing coronavirus pandemic. This is the first time in its 64 years of existence that it won’t be awarded.

The group said in a statement: “From a sports perspective, two months (January and February), out of the 11 generally required to form an opinion and decide who should lift the trophies, represent far too little to gauge and judge; without forgetting that the other games were played — or will be played — in unordinary conditions (behind closed doors, with five replacements, Champions League’s Final eight played in a single game). Finally, the equity that prevails for this honorary title will not be warranted, especially when it comes to accounting and preparation: all the award seekers will not be in the same boat, some having seen their season cut short,” they continued. “Therefore, how can we establish a fair comparison? To avoid overly convoluted calculations and projections, we chose the least bad of the options.”