FIFA Introduces ‘Best Football Awards’ After Splitting With Ballon D’Or

FIFA’s rival to the Ballon d’Or was announced on Monday with ‘The Best’ awards to be handed out to the world’s top soccer players in January.

FIFA Introduces ‘Best Football Awards’ After Splitting With Ballon D’Or

With the Ballon d’Or having ceased to exist after the contract between France Football and the world game’s governing body expired, FIFA has revealed their replacement.

The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2016 is one of eight prizes to be announced at the Best FIFA Football Awards in Zurich on Jan. 9.

These awards will include greater fan participation thanks to a new voting system in the Player and Coach of the Year categories. The winners will be chosen via a process in which 50 per cent of the result is based on the choices of captains and head coaches of all of the world’s national teams. The other 50 per cent will be split between the result of an online public ballot and the submissions from a selected group of more than 200 media representatives from around the world.

Here is the full list of awards to be presented:

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said:

“This event will be about football and its most passionate participants – players, coaches and fans.

“It is a new event with new approaches to celebrating the game we all love.”

Players will still choose the lineup for the FIFPro World11, while fans will select the Puskas Award for goal of the year through an online public ballot.

Some 23 candidates for the men’s award will be announced this Friday, while the final shortlist with three nominees in each category will be unveiled on December 2.

USA’s World Cup-winning midfielder Carli Lloyd and Argentinian Barcelona forward Lionel Messi won the respective player awards at the 2015 Fifa Ballon d’Or awards in January.

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – JANUARY 11: FIFA Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi of Argentina and FC Barcelona speaks during the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala 2015 at the Kongresshaus on January 11, 2016 in Zurich, Switzerland. (Photo by Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images)