By Graham Falk

Copyright scotsman

With the European football season now well underway, the annual Ballon d’Or awards are set to take place this week in order to crown the best footballer over the last 12 months. One of the most highly-anticipated awards on the sporting calendar, Scotland have both Scott McTominay and Caroline Weir nominated for the men’s and women’s awards respectively – the first Scottish nominees since 1987. Viewed as football’s prestigious ceremonies, the event was invented by France Football sports writers Gabriel Hanot and Jacques Ferran way back in 1956, with the Ballon d’Or now into its 69th year. But what is the trophy made out of? Who makes it, and does the winner of the award receive any prize money? Here’s everything you need to know about the Ballon d’Or 2025 trophy: The Ballon d’Or2025 takes place at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, France on Monday, 22 September 2025. The ceremony will begins at 8pm local time (7pm UK time). Details on how to watch the event are available here. The Ballon d’Or trophy is manufactured by Mellerio dits Meller (also known as Maison Mellerio), which is a historic French jewellery house first founded in 1613. The company has exclusively crafted the trophy since its inaugural in 1956. The trophy is made with gold-plated metal and crafted from a brass or bronze base that is coated with a layer of gold through a process known as gold plating. Mellerio has a long-term partnership with the Ballon d’Or organisers, France Football, and is the exclusive manufacturer of the trophy. Their involvement since the award’s beginnings adds to the legacy and authenticity of the ceremony, with the jewellers consistently delivering a design that reflects the award’s prestige. Designed to resemble a football, it is engraved with intricate patterns to mimic the appearance of a traditional football. It is reported to take around 100 hours of work over six months to make. It requires meticulous handcrafting, including shaping, engraving, and gold plating. Scotland hero Scott McTominay has been nominated for the very first time in his career, after his outstanding debut season in Serie A resulted in him claiming the Scudetto title and named as the league’s most valuable player. However, he is unable to attend the event in Paris due his club side Napoli being in league action at home to Pisa. While sponsorships and endorsements may come as a result of winning the Ballon d’Or, the winner receives no official prize money directly from the organisers of the ceremony. However, the winner of the award does receive some additional benefits as a result of winning the award, such as a lifetime invitation to future ceremonies. However, some players do have a ‘Ballon d’Or clause’ inserted into their contract, meaning they will land a lump sum if they win the award as part of their deal. In 2022, during contract talks with Barcelona, there were reports that Bayern Munich had considered offering this year’s favourite, Ousmane Dembele, a potential ‘Ballon d’Or’ bonus in order to entice him to sign for the Bundesliga giants, though this was never fully confirmed. Examples of this are: Luka Modric earning a reported €800,000 from Nike in 2018 for his Ballon d’Or win, while Vinícius Júnior was reportedly in line to receive a €1million bonus from Real Madrid as part of his contract for winning in 2024,though he was famously pipped to the award by Manchester City’s Rodri. Sign up to The Scotsman’s daily football newsletter to get unrivalled Scottish football news and analysis – subscribe for free here.