Ousmane Dembele is the favourite to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or but the PSG superstar might not attend the awards ceremony tonight.
The world’s best footballer will be crowned in Paris, where there will almost certainly be a first-time winner, with Dembele the frontrunner.
The France international played a pivotal part in Paris Saint-Germain’s treble-winning campaign last season that was capped off by winning the club’s first Champions League title.
The forward recorded a staggering 35 goals and 16 assists to lead the shortlist ahead of Barcelona duo Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.
In total, nine PSG players, including goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma who has since been sold to Manchester City, are nominated for the top prize.
Get personalised football updates every day
Sign up to our daily football newsletter and choose your team to get the latest news, rumours and more about your favourite team.
However, the majority of them, as well as Luis Enrique who is up for the Best Men’s Coach award, will miss tonight’s prestigious ceremony.
Why PSG players won’t be at the Ballon dOr ceremony
PSG were due to take on rivals Marseille on Sunday night in ‘Le Classique’ – Ligue 1’s marquee fixture.
However, the game was postponed due to forecasts of thunderstorms and flooding in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, with PSG’s players and staff swiftly returning to Paris.
However, the French Football League (LFP) have hastily rescheduled the match for Monday night and will kick-off just an hour before the Ballon d’Or ceremony is set to begin.
The LFP have cited article 548 of their competition rules, which says that if a fixture is postponed due to bad weather then it should be played the next day.
Will Ousmane Dembele attend the Ballon d’Or ceremony?
Despite the rescheduled fixture, Ousmane Dembele is expected to attend the Ballon d’Or ceremony tonight and receive his prize – if he wins – in person.
That is because the 28-year-old is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and was due to miss the Marseille clash anyway.
The same goes for teammates and fellow nominees Desire Doue and Joao Neves, who are also recovering from injury. The trio will need permission from the club to be absent from the game at the Orange Velodrome but this should be granted.
PSG’s other nominees, namely Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nuno Mendes, Fabian Ruiz and Vitinha, are all set to play tonight.
Why are Real Madrid not at the Ballon d’Or ceremony?
Last year, Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri won the Ballon d’Or, but the ceremony was marred by the absence of the entire Real Madrid team.
Los Blancos decided to boycott the awards at the last minute after learning that Rodri had beaten their seven nominated players, most notably Vinicius Junior, a move which was widely criticised by the football community.
Real have three players nominated this year – Vinicius, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe – none of whom are expected to win after failing to lift a single major trophy last season.
No one from the team will be at the ceremony again this year however, but that is almost certainly because of the short turnaround to their La Liga game away at Levante on Tuesday night.
However, unlike every top European football club, Real will not send a delegation of any kind to Paris, suggesting their feud with the Ballon d’Or is not over.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
