2025 Puskas Award Winner Selection No Longer Based on Voting, Can Rizky Ridho Win?

The Puskas Award (the award for the best goal) was previously known as an event entirely determined by public voting. However, after the controversy in 2018, FIFA revamped the selection mechanism to make the process fairer and more balanced. 

The core principle now is that the winner is determined by two elements: public votes and the assessment of a FIFA expert panel/legends.

For the 2025 edition, FIFA released the nomination list, including videos of all candidate goals, and provided a public voting mechanism through FIFA's official website. However, the final result isn't solely measured by fan vote accumulation; the expert panel (often called the FIFA Legends panel or jury) plays a decisive role in the final round. 

The weighting of votes between fans and panelists ensures victory doesn't depend entirely on netizen numbers alone.

Rizky Ridho's (Persija and Indonesian national team defender) inclusion in the 2025 Puskás Award nomination list is a historic moment. Indonesian players rarely appear at such international nomination levels, especially alongside big names from top European and American competitions. Many Indonesian media outlets immediately highlighted this news and urged supporters to vote via FIFA's official platform. 

Theoretically, and based on other international awards that previously relied on fan voting, if winners were solely determined by public vote counts, candidates from countries with large populations and active internet users would hold significant advantages. 

Indonesia, with its massive and socially active football supporter base, could drive massive voting for a local candidate. This means if only the public decided, Rizky Ridho's chance to overtake big names through unified Indonesian netizen support could be substantial. However, it must be emphasized this is a hypothetical scenario, not the current reality. 

The post-2018 mechanism change aims to balance public preference with technical/aesthetic evaluation by the expert panel. In practice, the public selects the shortlist or ranks choices, then the jury panel evaluates technical quality, goal context, difficulty level, creativity, and historical significance. 

Thus, while public support is crucial and may determine the top three contenders, the final decision also hinges on the panel's judgment, which may prioritize aspects beyond popularity. 

The current Puskas rule combines public voting and panel assessment. So although massive netizen support helps, the outcome isn't purely about click quantities.

Rizky Ridho's inclusion is immensely valuable for Indonesian football exposure, with a genuine winning opportunity if public backing is paired with convincing presentation of the goal's context and quality to the jury.