France Magazine To Launch Ballon d

By Danny Ward

France Football Magazine have announced it will launch a special Ballon d'Or award for women footballers this year.

Editor-in-chief of the magazine, Pascal Ferre, says they intend to give women footballers the same recognition as their main counterparts. 

The Ballon d'Or has always been open to male footballers since the first award was handed to Sir Stanley Matthews in 1956.

Ferre reveals they will put up fifteen nominees on October 8, and form a jury of forty journalists with the specialty in women's football who will choose the eventual winner of 2018.

"Women's soccer is a booming discipline that deserves the same respect as men's soccer. It's coming to maturity and growing bigger,” Pascal Ferre is quoted by The Associated Press.

"More than 760m TV viewers watched games at the last women's World Cup in 2015. This did not happen by chance."

"I'm confident we will get a jury of about 40 journalists, from countries where women's soccer is growing."

Ferre says some female soccer players he has spoken to are 'thrilled and can't wait for it.’

"They are very proud to see that the world of soccer considers that women should be treated with the same respect as men."