Why Zambia and South Africa were the only Southern African countries allowed to vote for the Ballon d'Or

France Football dished out various accolades to the most outstanding footballers on Monday at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

The most coveted of those awards was the Ballon d’Or. The award was given to the best football player in the world in the previous 12 months.

Lionel Messi added to his never-ending collection of accolades after securing his record-extending eighth Ballon d’Or on Monday.

Lionel Messi at the 67th Ballon D'Or Ceremony at Theatre Du Chatelet on October 30, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) — (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

The Argentine playmaker beat Manchester City treble-winner Erling Haaland and former PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe to claim yet another Ballon d’Or crown.

Haaland could only walk away with the Gerd Muller Award after scoring 56 goals last season.

For the women’s Ballon d’Or, Aitana Bonmati was an inevitable winner. She won both the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2022–23 UEFA Women’s Champions League.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid duo Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr. were awarded the U-21 Kopa Trophy and the Socrates Humanitarian Award, respectively.

The prize for the Men’s Club of the Year was given to Manchester City. On the other hand, the prize for the Women’s Club of the Year went to FC Barcelona Femeni.

Why were Zambia and South Africa the only countries allowed to vote?

In the past, journalists from every country in the world decided on the Ballon d’Or winner via a national representative.

However, recently, France Football announced that only the top 100 and top 50 FIFA-ranked countries in the men’s and women’s categories, respectively, were allowed to vote.

Hence, a journalist would only qualify to vote for the men’s Ballon d’Or if they were representing a country among FIFA’s top 100.

The Ballon d'Or trophy in 2022. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images) — The Ballon d’Or trophy in 2022. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)

This was in a bid to limit the Ballon d’Or vote to countries that have a stronger football culture, history, and a complete understanding of and exposure to the sport.

Only two countries in Southern Africa qualify to vote for the men’s Ballon d’Or based on those criteria. South Africa and Zambia, ranked 64th and 81st, respectively, are the only countries in the COSAFA region with such a privilege.

As of 2022, Zambian journalist Mathews Kabamba who is also a BolaNews contributor and data analyst, and South Africa’s Mark Gleason both voted for the eventual winner, Karim Benzema.