Who will claim the FIFA Ballon d’Or of the Year award for 2010?
FIFA and France Football have today announced the names of the players and coaches on the short lists for these awards, and the final decisions will be made by the captains and head coaches of the men’s national team as well as by international media representatives selected by France Football.
The winner will be revealed at the first FIFA Ballon d’Or gala as part of a televised ceremony at the Zurich Kongresshaus on 10 January 2011, during which the FIFA/FIFPro World XI and the FIFA Puskás Award for the most beautiful goal of the year will also be announced for the second year running.
The FIFA Presidential Award and the FIFA Fair Play Award will also be presented during the gala.
The lists of 23 male candidates,have been drawn up by football experts from the Football Committee, the Technical and Development Committee and the Committee for Women’s Football and the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, as well as by a group of experts from France Football.
The alliance between FIFA and the Amaury Group to create the FIFA Ballon d’Or was signed in Johannesburg on 5 July 2010. The award is a combination of the FIFA World Player of the Year award and the France Football Ballon d’Or.
Meanwhile, the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football award and the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football award will be presented for the first time.
On 6 December 2010, FIFA and France Football will announce at a media event in Paris the names of the three men and three women, as well as the three men’s coaches and three women’s coaches, who have received the most votes.
Short lists for the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala 2010
The following 23 men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2010:
Xabi Alonso (Spain), Daniel Alves (Brazil), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlán (Uruguay), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Júlio César (Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Maicon (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Müller (Germany), Mesut Özil (Germany), Carles Puyol (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), David Villa (Spain) and Xavi (Spain).
Source: FIFA