England’s Georgia Stanway has expressed her regret at missing the potentially “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity of attending the Ballon d’Or ceremony, after the scheduling of Monday night’s event meant the female nominees for the award are unable to attend.
Stanway is among four England players nominated for arguably the most prestigious individual award in the sport, but they will all be absent due to preparations for the Lionesses’ UEFA Nations League fixture against Belgium on Tuesday, with the other nominees also on international duty.
Goalkeeper Mary Earps, Millie Bright and Rachel Daly are the three other Lionesses to have been nominated, alongside several Women’s Super League stars that include Sam Kerr, Katie McCabe and Khadija Shaw.
Bayern Munich midfielder Stanway has been recognised for her international exploits, after being part of Sarina Wiegman’s squad to reach the Women’s World Cup final in August.
“Obviously, it’s nice to get the accolade, as well as a lot of my team-mates who have been nominated as well. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t be there,” said Stanway in quotes published by the BBC.
“We spoke about it as a group and said it would be nice in the future if the ceremony wasn’t on a matchday minus one day so we can all enjoy the experience.
“[It is frustrating] because it’s a potentially once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You never know if you’ll get selected for such an accolade like that again. It would be nice to enjoy the experience and be there.
“You want to feel like a star among the stars. We’ve got a game tomorrow, but if it was planned a little better then it would be easier for a lot of female footballers to be there.”
Spain’s Alexia Putellas has won the last two editions of the award, but after an injury-plagued year, there will be another winner of the award in 2023.
Her Barcelona team-mate Aitana Bonmati is the favourite, but she will not be present either with Spain preparing for a match against Switzerland.
Wiegman echoed Stanway’s sentiments and hopes the ceremony can be held at a more convenient time in future years to allow female players to attend.
“It would be nice for [female players to go] because everyone is working so hard,” added England manager Wiegman.
“Of course, we have to do a job and that’s what we’re here for so they can’t attend. It would be really nice if things like that are organised so players could have the opportunity to go too.”
