Ballon d'Or Awards to be Co-organized by European Governing Body UEFA

This photograph taken on October 30, 2023, shows the Ballon d'Or award displayed during the 2023 Ballon d'Or France Football award ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
This photograph taken on October 30, 2023, shows the Ballon d'Or award displayed during the 2023 Ballon d'Or France Football award ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
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Ballon d'Or Awards to be Co-organized by European Governing Body UEFA

This photograph taken on October 30, 2023, shows the Ballon d'Or award displayed during the 2023 Ballon d'Or France Football award ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
This photograph taken on October 30, 2023, shows the Ballon d'Or award displayed during the 2023 Ballon d'Or France Football award ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)

Soccer's most prestigious individual prize, the Ballon d'Or, will be co-organized by UEFA from next year, giving the European soccer body a global event that traditionally out-ranks FIFA’s own world awards.
The deal comes seven years after a previous partnership between the French organizers of the award and world governing body FIFA ended.
From 2024, the Ballon d’Or awards and ceremony will be co-organized by UEFA and Groupe Amaury, which publishes France Football and L’Equipe.
France Football magazine created the Ballon d’Or, which was first awarded in 1956 to England winger Stanley Matthews. For six seasons from 2010 the award was known as the FIFA Ballon d’Or, and ceremonies were held in the world governing body’s home city Zurich.
FIFA has run its own Best Awards since 2016 and previously had an annual world player of the year award since 1991.
The latest edition of the Ballon d'Or was held Monday in Paris with two World Cup winners taking the awards as best player: Lionel Messi won the men’s prize for the eighth time and Aitana Bonmatí took home her first women’s award.
“UEFA will contribute its football expertise, market the global commercial rights and organize the annual awards gala,” The Associated Press quoted it as saying in a statement.
The relaunch will add new awards for the best coaches in men’s and women’s soccer.
“Together, UEFA and Groupe Amaury aim to enhance the stature and global reach of the awards while fostering a sense of unity and collaboration within the football community,” UEFA said.
The deal will also see UEFA scrap its own player of the year awards, which have traditionally been handed out in August, although it will hand out a player of the season award for each of its club competitions, such as the Champions League and Europa League.



Dortmund Loses Again with Early Exit from German Cup to Increase Pressure on Coach

(L-R) Dortmund's German midfielder #10 Julian Brandt, Dortmund's Austrian midfielder #20 Marcel Sabitzer and Dortmund's German midfielder #08 Felix Nmecha react after the German Cup (DFB Pokal) 2nd round football match between VfL Wolfsburg and BVB Borussia Dortmund, in Wolfsburg, northern Germany on October 29, 2024.  (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)
(L-R) Dortmund's German midfielder #10 Julian Brandt, Dortmund's Austrian midfielder #20 Marcel Sabitzer and Dortmund's German midfielder #08 Felix Nmecha react after the German Cup (DFB Pokal) 2nd round football match between VfL Wolfsburg and BVB Borussia Dortmund, in Wolfsburg, northern Germany on October 29, 2024. (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)
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Dortmund Loses Again with Early Exit from German Cup to Increase Pressure on Coach

(L-R) Dortmund's German midfielder #10 Julian Brandt, Dortmund's Austrian midfielder #20 Marcel Sabitzer and Dortmund's German midfielder #08 Felix Nmecha react after the German Cup (DFB Pokal) 2nd round football match between VfL Wolfsburg and BVB Borussia Dortmund, in Wolfsburg, northern Germany on October 29, 2024.  (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)
(L-R) Dortmund's German midfielder #10 Julian Brandt, Dortmund's Austrian midfielder #20 Marcel Sabitzer and Dortmund's German midfielder #08 Felix Nmecha react after the German Cup (DFB Pokal) 2nd round football match between VfL Wolfsburg and BVB Borussia Dortmund, in Wolfsburg, northern Germany on October 29, 2024. (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)

Borussia Dortmund's losing run hit a new low with elimination from the German Cup in a 1-0 second-round loss to Wolfsburg on Tuesday to increase the pressure on coach Nuri Sahin.
Dortmund's injury-hit team struggled to generate scoring chances in a drab 90 minutes before Wolfsburg forward Jonas Wind settled the game in extra time with a 116th-minute goal, The Associated Press reported.
That consigned last season's Champions League runner-up Dortmund to a third straight loss in all competitions, a fifth defeat in a row in away games, and its earliest cup exit since the 2010-11 season.
“It's not about my personal situation, it's about moving the club forward, getting back to winning ways as soon as possible, winning our games,” the 36-year-old Sahin, who took over from Edin Terzic in the off-season, told broadcaster Sky. “Believe me, it's extremely bitter and disappointing for me too that we're in a situation like this right now, but we can't do anything other than keep going.”
The frustration was visible as goalkeeper Gregor Kobel hurled his gloves against the bench after the final whistle.
Even playing extra time was a problem for Dortmund, given its lengthy injury list.
Midfielders Pascal Gross and Emre Can had to fill gaps in the defense and Sahin, who was already under pressure after Dortmund's losses at Real Madrid and Augsburg last week, made only one substitution in the 90 minutes, bringing on American forward Cole Campbell for only his second senior Dortmund game.
Marcel Sabitzer made an extra-time cameo off the bench despite carrying a back injury, but his most notable contribution was losing the ball to Wind for the Danish striker to score Wolfsburg's goal.
Dortmund's busy schedule doesn't let up with a game against Leipzig in the Bundesliga on Saturday and a visit from Austria's Sturm Graz in the Champions League next week.
Leverkusen and Leipzig progress Last season's German Cup winner Bayer Leverkusen cruised into the third round with a 3-0 win over second-tier Elversberg. Patrik Schick scored twice in the first nine minutes and Aleix Garcia converted a free kick for his first goal since joining Leverkusen from Girona for this season.
Leipzig beat St. Pauli 4-2 to avoid a repeat of last season's second-round exit when it was the two-time defending champion in the cup.
Leipzig had a 3-1 lead after 30 minutes but St. Pauli got back into the game with Eric Smith's lob in the 58th and was pushing to level the score. The 19-year-old Norway winger Antonio Nusa dribbled past two defenders and scored Leipzig's fourth to secure the win.
Stuttgart had to work hard to break down last season's cup finalist Kaiserslautern in a 2-1 win settled by Chris Führich's first goal of the season in the 75th.
Second-tier Cologne upset Bundesliga club Holstein Kiel 3-0, while Augsburg beat second-division Schalke 3-0 to reach the third round for the first time since 2018-19. The lowest-ranked team left in the competition, fourth-tier Kickers Offenbach, was beaten 2-0 by second-division Karlsruhe.
Ten-man Jahn Regensburg held on to beat Greuther Fürth 1-0 after goalscorer Rasim Bulic was sent off for a dangerous tackle.