The key facts

  • The ceremony starts at 23:30 Moscow time with a 30-minute delay due to traffic jams in London
  • The 70th ceremony is being held outside France for the first time — at the Palladium theatre
  • The award's website accidentally published posts with the winners' names before the announcement

Delay and change of venue

The Ballon d'Or ceremony on October 26 began with a 30-minute delay due to the traffic situation in London: the main part of the event starts at 23:30 Moscow time. This was reported by Gazeta.Ru, which is running a live text broadcast of the evening.

Why the ceremony was held outside France for the first time

The milestone 70th ceremony is taking place at the London Palladium theatre, and for the first time in history the award is being presented outside France. The organizers linked the choice of the English capital to the fact that the first Ballon d'Or winner in 1956 was the English footballer Stanley Matthews. The award itself is given annually to the best footballer of the calendar year by the French magazine France Football and is generally considered the most prestigious individual award in football. The current holder is Ousmane Dembélé of PSG, while the record holder for most trophies is Lionel Messi with eight Ballons d'Or.

Winners leaked before the announcement

Shortly before the ceremony, the award's website accidentally published posts with the winners, the outlet notes. As a result, the names of the laureates may have become known before the official announcement — the organizers had not commented on this at the time of publication, according to sources.