Ballon d'Or organisers France Football have revealed why Chelsea's Eden Hazard and Real Madrid's Karim Benzema did not make this year's shortlist for the award.
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It will be the first time France Football will have sole control of the awards ceremony and voting process since they ended their partnership with FIFA earlier this year.
After revealing their 30-man shortlist, the publication first explained why they did not consider Hazard for this season's prestigious award.
"If there was only one put forward, it would probably be (Hazard)," they said, as quoted by FourFourTwo.
"Seeing Eden Hazard away from this list can be an anomaly. There is nothing in view of (the) insipid performances of the Belgian during most of 2016.
"After 22nd place in 2013, 21st in 2014 and a very nice eighth position last year, Hazard restarts (from) zero."
The French publication then explained their reasoning for leaving Benzema out.
"We know why we did not see (him) at the Euro and his absence in the major competition of the year necessarily weighted the balance," France Football added.
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Other players who missed out on the 30-man shortlist include Arsenal's Mesut Ozil, FC Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic and Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng.
Do you think both Hazard and Benzema deserved to miss out on this year's shortlist for the Ballon d'Or? Have your say in the comments section below.
