The Ballon d’Or ceremony will take place in Paris, France on Monday October 28 with football elite gathering at the Theatre du Chatelet.
This is the first year the Ballon d'Or are co-organised by UEFA and Groupe Amaury, owner of France Football, and are voted on in eight categories, in addition to the Gerd Muller Award for the year's top scorer and the humanitarian Socrates Award.
The reference period for all awards covers the entire season, from August to the following August, including international competitions (EURO, AFCON, Copa America, and the Olympics).
What awards will be handed out?
While the Player of Year is the biggest category, there are other individual awards being contested; being the Yashin Trophy, awarded to the best goalkeeper, of which Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams is among the nominees.
The is also the Kopa Trophy (best player under the age of 21), Coach of the Year, Club of the Year, Gerd Muller Trophy (top scorer) and Socrates Award (best humanitarian work by a footballer).
When is the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony?
The 2024 Ballon d'Or award gala will take place on Monday, October 28 at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris which has hosted the ceremony since 2019.
The ceremony will start at 19:00 GMT (23.00 South African time) and will be co-hosted by Ivory Coast and Chelsea legend Didier Drogba alongside French-British journalist Sandy Heribert.
How to watch the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony
The Ballon d’Or awards gala will be shown to audiences across the world for free on the L'Equipe YouTube channel, although some geo-restrictions may apply.
Frontrunners for the men’s 2024 Ballon d’Or
Real Madrid’s Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior is considered hot favourite for this year’s award although team-mate and English midfielder Jude Bellingham and Manchester City’s Spanish midfield general Rodri are also in the race.
Vinicius led Real Madrid to LaLiga, Spanish Super Cup and Champions League glory last season and could become the first Brazilian to win it since Kaka in 2007.
Who is Ronwen Williams contesting the Yashin Trophy with?
Banafa Bafana captain Ronwen Williams is up against 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).
