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Why England Lionesses are refusing to attend Ballon d'Or 2023 ceremony despite four players being nominated

Home> Football> England

Published 16:01 30 Oct 2023 GMT

Why England Lionesses are refusing to attend Ballon d'Or 2023 ceremony despite four players being nominated

The Lionesses won't be in attendance.

Ryan Smart

Ryan Smart

The Lionesses squad will not be attending tonight's Ballon d'Or 2023 ceremony - despite four England players being nominated for the women's award.

Mary Earps, Rachel Daly, Millie Bright and Georgia Stanway are all in contention to scoop the prestigious prize.

All four players started the World Cup final in August, which England lost 1-0 to Spain.

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Daly was the top scorer in the Women's Super League last season, having netted 22 goals for Aston Villa, while Bright was a key part of the Chelsea squad that won the WSL and captained the Lionesses in Australia and New Zealand.

Manchester United goalkeeper Earps won the WSL's golden glove award, with her 14 clean sheets breaking the English top division's record.

And Stanway was involved in nine league goals from midfield for Bayern Munich as they won the women's Bundesliga - losing just one game in the process.

But none of the players will be present in person in Paris tonight.

That is because the Lionesses are in Belgium ahead of the Nations League clash between the two nations on Tuesday evening - meaning none of them can attend.

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Speaking to the media ahead of the match, Ballon d'Or nominee Stanway expressed her disappointment at the scheduling of the ceremony.

The former Manchester City star said (quotes via Sky Sports): "It's unfortunate we couldn't be there. That's something we spoke [about] as a player group, and we just said it would be nice in the future if it wasn't on a matchday minus one, so that we could enjoy the experience.

"It is [frustrating], because it's potentially a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

England midfielder Georgia Stanway is shortlisted for the women's Ballon d'Or award (
Getty)

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"You never know if you're ever going to get selected for such an accolade like that again, so it would be really nice to enjoy the experience and be there and feel like a star amongst the stars.

"If it was planned a little bit better, then maybe it would be easier for a lot of female footballers to be there."

The current favourite to win the women's Ballon d'Or award is Spain and Barcelona star Aitana Bonmati, who won the Golden Ball award at the World Cup.

Among the other contenders include Chelsea's Sam Kerr, Wolfsburg's Alexandra Popp and Barcelona's Olga Carmona, who scored the winning goal for Spain in the World Cup final.

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Featured Image Credit: Getty

Topics: England, Womens World Cup, Ballon d'Or

Ryan Smart
Ryan Smart

Live in constant hope of the top flight as a Preston North End fan. Written in the past for SPORF, GiveMeSport and more.

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