December 1 – There were no surprises when FIFA announced the shortlist for the prize of World Player of the Year, at least as far as the men are concerned, with the usual suspects bidding for honours in the New Year.
As usual Lionel Messi takes on Cristiano Ronaldo with Neymar as the rank outsider while contenders for the women’s prize will be Carli Lloyd (United States), Aya Miyama (Japan) and Célia Šašić (Germany).
Men’s coach nominees are Pep Guardiola (Bayern Munich), Luis Enrique (Barcelona), Jorge Sampaoli (Chile) and for the women Jill Ellis (US national team), Mark Sampson (England national team) and Norio Sasaki (Japanese national team).
The voting process was open to the captains and head coaches of the men’s and women’s national teams of 207 member associations plus selected media representatives.
All of the awards will be presented at the traditional Ballon d’Or ceremony in Zurich on January 11 televised across the globe.
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