Why was Ronaldo nominated and not Messi?

Though Messi celebrated a Ligue 1 title with PSG in France, his form during the 2021/22 campaign was, by his standards, poor. The Argentine scored just 11 goals in 34 matches for the French giants in all competitions, with only six of those strikes coming in the league. While the 35-year-old’s dedicated fans around the world have kicked up a fuss by pointing out several statistics in which Messi appeared above some of the players who made the nominees list ahead of him, it shouldn’t be sugarcoated that his performances were well below par. Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, found the back of the net 24 times for arguably one of the worst Manchester United sides in history, including a streak that saw the fivetime Ballon d’Or winner score nine league goals in his final seven appearances of the season. Although there is a section of United fans who feel Ronaldo’s return to the Red Devils ultimately contributed to the team’s chemistry collapse, his individual numbers were undeniably impressive, particularly when compared to Messi’s output in Paris. France Football has done an excellent job of explaining its though process, saying, “Inevitably, Lionel Messi, with his 15 appearances in a row since 2006, his seven Ballon d’Or victories, his title holder status, weighs very heavily when it comes to the final choice. The Argentinian was part of the discussions to integrate the 30, but the new criteria for the Ballon d’Or were unfavourable to him: disappearance of the criterion of a player’s entire career, and new periodicity, modelled on a season of football and no longer over a calendar year, which does not make it possible to integrate the Copa America of July 11, 2021. And then, it must be admitted that his first season in Paris was very disappointing both in terms of the visual impression and the statistics.”