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Ronaldo beats Messi to win inaugural BOAT award for 2008 Man United season

By · Via Times of India · Published by Everything Blog

In short

France Football determined the winner of the new honor through a paid digital fan vote rather than relying on its standard panel of journalists. Supporters spent one euro per entry to rank the greatest historical campaigns, which also offered them entry into a prize draw for the 2027 Ballon d'Or ceremony. The voting process saw thousands of participants cast ballots, including over 5,000 individuals who submitted multiple entries.

Key points

  • The public fan vote differed from the traditional journalist-decided Ballon d'Or by charg…: The public fan vote differed from the traditional journalist-decided Ballon d'Or by charging participants one euro per submitted entry.
  • More than 5,000 individual voters submitted multiple entries while competing for tickets…: More than 5,000 individual voters submitted multiple entries while competing for tickets to the 2027 Ballon d'Or ceremony.
  • Historic nominees on the voting ballot included legendary icons such as Johan Cruyff, Mic…: Historic nominees on the voting ballot included legendary icons such as Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, and Alfredo Di Stefano.

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Cristiano

Ronaldo has been named the inaugural winner of the BOAT (Ballon d'Or of All Time) award, with fans voting his 2008 campaign at Manchester United as the greatest individual season in the history of football's most prestigious individual honour.

Introduced by France Football, the award was designed to spark debate over which Ballon d'Or-winning campaign deserved to be considered the greatest of all time. Ronaldo came out on top after a fan-driven voting process, beating long-time rival Lionel Messi to the honour.

Fans favoured Ronaldo's first Ballon d'Or-winning season in 2008 over Messi's remarkable 91-goal calendar year in 2012, a record that still stands.

Unlike the traditional Ballon d'Or, where an international panel of prominent journalists determines the winner, the BOAT award allowed fans to cast their votes digitally. The voting list featured some of football's most celebrated names, including Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, Marco van Basten, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Kevin Keegan and Franz Beckenbauer. Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano and Brazilian great Ronaldo Nazario were also among the nominees.

The voting process required participants to pay one euro,…

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