Ballon d'Or 2023 is set to crown the best players in the men's and women's games on Monday night, but England midfielder Georgia Stanway is "frustrated" that poor planning poor planning means a large amount of nominated stars won't be in attendance at the ceremony.
With England Women playing Belgium in a Nations League match on Tuesday night, Stanway and her Lionesses team-mates Millie Bright, Rachel Daly and Mary Earps are unable to attend the awards, despite being nominated for the women's Ballon d'or.
Aitana Bonmati is expected to be named the best female footballer of 2023 at the ceremony, after leading Spain to World Cup glory following Liga F and Champions League glory with Barcelona.
For Stanway, though, just being at the awards would have fulfilled a life's ambition.
"It's unfortunate we couldn't be there," Stanway said. "That's something we spoke about as a player group, and we just kind of 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. 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."
Regardless, she is certainly proud to be recognised for her fine season for both Bayern Munich and England.
"It's very cool, and nice to get the accolade as well as a lot of the team-mates in the Lionesses. There's a few people I would also add to the list who have had very, very successful years. It's a real achievement to be amongst those names."
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In the men's award, Lionel Messi is the overwhelming favourite to take an unprecedented eighth crown, ahead of Erling Haaland.
