Women's Ballon d'Or Award Launched by France Football for 2018 Ceremony in Paris

France Football has announced it will hand out a women's Ballon d'Or award at the ceremony in Paris on December 3. 

Magazine editor Pascal Ferre told Samuel Petrequin of the Associated Press it was only natural to create the women's award at this time given the growth in the game. France Football also announced the birth of the Kopa trophy, given to the best young player.

The announcement came on Monday, and Rob Harris of the AP reminded followers that FIFA will have its The Best award ceremony later in the day:

The two awards used to be combined until 2015, when France Football returned to presenting the award on its own. FIFA in turn created The Best in 2016 and included several new categories, including a women's award, trophies for the best men's and women's coaches and a fan award.

Ferre voiced his enthusiasm about the decision to follow suit with a women's award:

"Women's soccer is a booming discipline that deserves the same respect as men's soccer. It's coming to maturity and growing bigger. More than 760 million TV viewers watched games at the last women's World Cup in 2015, this did not happen by chance.

"The jury won't be the same as the jury voting for the men. Only experts can vote. I'm confident we will get a jury of about 40 journalists, from countries where women's soccer is growing."

A total of 15 nominees will be announced on October 8, the same day the men's final 30 nominees are confirmed. Lyon Feminin are likely to dominate the list; the French giants have won the Women's Champions League three years in a row and had six representatives on the shortlist for FIFA's award. 

The Kopa trophy will be handed to one under-21 player on a list of 10. According to Ferre, only former winners will be able to vote.