FIFA has inked a deal with the France Football magazine about combining the two biggest individual player awards on an international stage into one.
Fifa World Player of the year
The FIFA World Player of the Year award and the Ballon D’Or, shall be merged together to become the FIFA Ballon D’Or from January,2011 onwards.
FIFA announced that the goal was to create a combined, undisputed best player award, and revealed that the first award will be given on January 10, 2011, in Zurich, Switzerland.
“I am a very happy president today,” said FIFA president Sepp Blatter after signing the agreement with Marie-Odile Amaury, president of the group that owns France Football.
“The winner is football because as of January we will have one single trophy for the best player of the world and this will be the Ballon d’Or.”
Coaches and captains of national teams, as well as media, will vote for the new award.
Currently, the French Football Association awards the Ballon D’Or independently of the FIFA World Player award, and both are equally prestigious among player circles.
Lionel Messi, of Argentina, currently holds both the awards.
The FIFA World Player of the Year award dates back to 1991, when it was awarded to Germany’s Lothar Matthaeus, but the Ballon D’Or has a longer history, dating back to 1956, when Stanley Mathews won the French award. While the Ballon D’Or had initally been restricted to only European players, it was made a global award in 2007.
Pundits have tipped Spain and Barcelona’s David Villa; and Netherlands’ and Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben to be the forerunners to win the inaugural FIFA Ballon D’Or Award in January, based on their performances for country and club. Others have touted Lionel Messi or Wesley Sneijder to walk away with the award.
No comments:
Post a Comment