2020 has been a difficult year for everyone, and in such circumstances, France Football’s decision to cancel this year’s Ballon d’Or is understandable. However, since football’s return, the game’s top players have provided fans around the world a thrilling respite from the global pandemic.  

Lazio’s Ciro Immobile outscored bigger names to win the Golden Shoe. Liverpool’s thrilling team of Mane, Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk lifted their first English title in 30 years. Neymar dazzled as PSG reached their first-ever Champions League final. Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi, now both well in their 30s, continued their statistically mind-boggling careers. And of course, a remarkable Bayern Munich team, led by the goalscoring exploits of Robert Lewandowski, won the Champions League to complete a sublime treble with some of the most scintillating football Europe has ever seen. 

These players deserve to be honoured for the joy and excitement they have provided during this difficult time. That is why B/R Football is presenting this petition to France Football, on behalf of football fans around the world, to ask them to reinstate football’s most prestigious individual award—the Ballon d’Or—and honour the player that has made the biggest impact on this unique, yet no less enthralling, year of football.