FIFA launches ‘Best FIFA Football Awards’ to rival Ballon d’Or

FIFA has launched its own award ceremony to rival the Ballon d’Or with the creation of the Best FIFA Football Awards.

The inaugural show for “football excellence” will be launched in Zurich on January 9.

FIFA, which claims the trophies “will be the game’s highest honour for coaches and footballers”, split from France Football and the Ballon d’Or earlier this year and intends to make supporters an integral part of its new voting system.

Fifty percent of the vote will be chosen by the result of an online public ballot, the shortlist for which will be selected by more than 200 members of the media, while the other 50 per cent is chosen by managers and team captains.

There will also be a FIFA fan award – the winner of which will be selected by a panel of “football experts”, whom FIFA says will “shortlist remarkable moments throughout the year involving exemplary and passionate football supporters”.

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.”

A total of eight trophies will be presented; men and women’s Best Player, men and women’s Best Coach, the Puskas Award, the Fan Award, the Fair Play Award and the FIFPro World11.

The World11 will be selected by professional footballers from around the world, while fans will choose the winner of the FIFA Puskas Award for goal of the year through an online public ballot. A group of “football experts” will decide the recipient of the FIFA Fair Play Award.

The ten candidates for the Best Men’s Coach 2016 will be announced on November 2 while the women’s candidates will be announced on November 1.

Ten candidates will also be named for Best Women’s Player on November 3 before 23 candidates for Best Men’s Player will be announced on November 4, when the voting process is also launched.

The final list with the three nominees for each of these awards will be unveiled on December 2.

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