In a meeting laden with meaning, José María del Corral, co-founder of Scholas Occurrentes, made a symbolic proposal to Mario Gallavotti, supervisor of FIFA committees: to establish the “Rag Ball.” The aim is to create an award that, alongside the renowned Ballon d’Or for exceptional players, recognizes the best social initiatives linked to football.

“Everyone has the right to play sports, but not everyone has the means to do so,” Del Corral stressed, explaining how the rag ball represents the democratic essence of the game.

A legacy that continues

The appeal was made on April 21 at the Casina Pio IV, headquarters of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of Pope Francis’s death. The event celebrated the Scholas Occurrentes Foundation as an integral part of his spiritual and educational legacy.

Born in the outskirts of Buenos Aires when Jorge Bergoglio was Archbishop, Scholas is today a global network that uses art, sport and technology to break down barriers between young people from different social backgrounds.

The bond between the Pope and this symbol is profound. In numerous interviews, Francis fondly recalled how, as a child in the Flores neighborhood, he played with balls made of rags: “The important thing wasn’t the ball, but the fact of being together.”

While the Ballon d’Or celebrates individual excellence and media success, the Ballon d’Or would be created to:

• To reward local initiatives that transform sport into a tool for inclusion.

• To build bridges where social or economic walls exist.

• To value the integral development of the person, prioritizing human growth over pure sports technique.

As Del Corral pointed out, the current system tends to focus exclusively on the “champions,” risking the loss of the game’s primary social function. The Rag Ball would restore dignity to that street football which seeks not glory, but brotherhood.