Previously, the "Football Gala" was broadcast on TV4 at prime time, often with the biggest national team stars in attendance. But after the contract with TV4 expired, no TV channels have been willing to arrange and broadcast the gala.
Unfortunately, the economic pressure on media companies has become so great, especially when it comes to TV, that every individual program investment seems to only be justified if it generates maximum profit, says Jan Scherman, media expert and former CEO of TV4.
Since the "Football Gala" was discontinued, the Swedish Football Association has changed the format and instead spread out the awards over several days.
The Association announces the winners of the Player of the Year awards in all categories.
"It's a shame"
Tonight, Aftonbladet and the Football Association will present the Guldbollen – the award for the best male player – in a live broadcast on Sportbladet's website.
The women's equivalent, the Diamantbollen, will be presented in collaboration with Sydsvenskan. The winner will be presented on Sydsvenskan's and the Association's websites and social media channels on Wednesday.
With all due respect for Sportbladet's reach, I think this should be a matter for national TV coverage. It's a shame that the tough economic reasoning within TV seems to prevail on more and more fronts, says Scherman and continues:
It's not unknown to anyone that football is the world's and Sweden's largest sport. Football engages young people, middle-aged and older people. It's also the sport that I think has been leading in terms of engaging both men and women. Therefore, I think it's deeply unfortunate that the award ceremony doesn't have a TV home.
In social media
The Football Association's communications manager Alexandra William-Olsson comments on the situation regarding the awards in an email.
"Naturally, a different format can affect exposure, but we also see that our awards are being noticed through more media, not least social media, which we appreciate and which feels important for our target groups. We have, since the pandemic, when the gala stopped being broadcast, presented the awards, Diamantboll and Guldboll, in different ways. We are constantly working to find new ways, and this also applies to the announcement of our prestigious awards to our players who are important role models", writes William-Olsson.
Guldbollen:
2023 - Dejan Kulusevski
2022 - Dejan Kulusevski
2021 - Emil Forsberg
2020 - Zlatan Ibrahimovic
2019 - Victor Nilsson Lindelöf
The winner of the Guldbollen will be announced on December 16 at 9:00 PM, live on Sportbladet's website.
Diamantbollen:
2023 - Elin Rubensson
2022 - Fridolina Rolfö
2021 - Fridolina Rolfö
2020 - Magdalena Eriksson
2019 - Caroline Seger
The winner of the Diamantbollen will be announced on December 18 at 5:00 PM, on Sydsvenskan's and the Swedish Football Association's websites and social media channels.
