​Ousmane Dembele is the current holder of the men’s Ballon d’Or [Getty Images]The Ballon d’Or, the most prestigious individual prize in football, is awarded annually by France Football magazine to the player perceived to be the best in the world.The winner is chosen through a dual system of voting. Firstly, journalists from France Football and fellow French publication L’Equipe work together to produce a combined list of 30 official nominees, based on players’ performances in the previous season. This initial selection process sometimes also includes a small number of former players.Then, one football journalist from each of the top 100 Fifa-ranked nations is invited to cast votes for their top 10 players in order from that shortlist. The 10 players are awarded 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point based on ranking.Once all journalists have submitted their top 10s, points are tallied and the winner of the Ballon d’Or is the player who accrued the most points in the voting, while the rest are ranked from second to 30th.If players are tied on points, they are separated by the number of first place votes they received. If they are still level, the number of second place votes are used, and so on.Journalists taking part in the vote are encouraged to consider three factors:Individual performances, decisive and impressive characterTeam performances and achievementsClass and fair playHas the Ballon d’Or ever worked in a different way?The way in which the Ballon d’Or is awarded has changed significantly since it was first created in 1956.Until 1995, only European footballers were eligible for the award. Then, for the next 12 years, players of any origin playing for a club in Europe were eligible. Only from 2007 onwards have all players worldwide been included.Between 2007 and 2015, the captain and manager of each Fifa-recognised international team was invited to participate in the final vote, but both prior to that period and since then, only journalists have contributed.From 2010 to 2015, Fifa collaborated with France Football on the award, which was known as the Fifa Ballon d’Or.Fifa now give out their own separate prize, called the Fifa Best player award, but its lack of long-term history means the Ballon d’Or is generally considered more prestigious.Prior to 2022, voting was based on a player’s performances over the course of a calendar year – comprising half of two separate seasons in most elite leagues – before being changed to encompass a single full season.What about the women’s Ballon d’Or?The women’s award, known as the Ballon d’Or Feminine, was first created in 2018.It has been won three times by Spain international Aitana Bonmati and twice by her international team-mate Alexia Putellas, as well as once each by Norway’s Ada Hegerberg and the USA’s Megan Rapinoe.There is a slight nuance in the way the women’s award is voted for – the same system of pre-selection followed by a jury of journalists is used, but only 50 journalists from the