Football royalty gathers in Paris on Monday for the 2024 Ballon ‘d’Or Awards gala with Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams among the nominees.
Williams jetted to Paris at the weekend in readiness for the big occasion where he is nominated for the Yashin Trophy, awarded to the best goalkeeper in the world.
The Mamelodi Sundowns stopper became the first South African player, and first footballer based in Africa, to get a Ballon d’Or nomination and will be hoping to write further chapters of his history by emerging victorious.
Who are the Yashin Trophy nominees?
Williams is contesting the award alongside some of the world’s top goalkeepers being; Diogo Costa (Portugal/FC Porto), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy/PSG), Gregor Kobel (Switzerland/Borussia Dortmund), Andriy Lunin (Ukraine/Real Madrid), Mike Maignan (France/AC Milan), Giorgi Mamarsdashvili (Georgia/Valencia), Emiliano Martinez (Argentina/Aston Villa), Unai Simon (Spain/Athletic Bilbao) and Yann Sommer (Switzerland/Inter Milan).
Yashin trophy awarded based on 3 criteria
The Yashin Trophy winners will be decided based on individual performances, decisive and impressive character, team performances and achievements as well as class and fair play.
Williams will therefore hope that his performances for both club and country were decisive enough to sway the decision of the jury his way.
Who selects the winners?
The Yashin Trophy is awarded by an international jury of specialiced journalists, with one representative per country, from the top 100 in the latest FIFA rankings before the lists are published.
Each juror selects three players from a list of 10 nominees and the three selected players are awarded 5, 3, and 1 point. The trophy is awarded to the player with the highest number of points.
In case of a tie, the players are separated by the number of first-place votes. If the tie remains, they are separated by the number of second-place votes. Any dispute arising from the voting is decided by the editor-in-chief of France Football as the organiser.
Importance of public voting
A public vote has been going on since the nominees were announced with fans voting by CLICKING HERE TO CAST A VOTE. By Monday, Williams was at the forefront of the voting for the Yashin Trophy with over 60 per cent in his favour.
However, the public vote isn't the final determinant although it can still impact the expert jury's decision. There's no set number of votes needed to win the trophy, but the fan support can boost Williams' visibility and might influence the panel's verdict.
Who won the Yashin Trophy in 2023?
The Bafana Bafana captain will be hoping to succeed Emiliano Martinez of Argentina and Aston Villa who won the Yashin Trophy in 2023 and is also nominated for this year’s awards.
