Cristiano Ronaldo is the odds-on favourite to win the Ballon d’Or award this year thanks to his stunning performances in the Champions League and Euro 2016 tournaments. The Portuguese superstar had a remarkable first half to this calendar year winning two important trophies and scoring plenty of goals along the way. However, after the Euros, Ronaldo has struggled to discover his best form putting in some sterile performance for the All Whites.
Now, according to Catalan daily Diario Gol, the Ballon d’Or result is already decided with Messi set to beat the Portuguese superstar for the prestigious individual award. The report also went on to claim that the newly disbanded Ballon d’Or award which will be voted by a select group of journalists chosen from France Football will go to Messi while the FIFA Best Player of the Year award will most likely be won by Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was assumed that Ronaldo’s individual performances along with successful campaigns for his team both domestically and internationally would be sufficient to see him win the Ballon d’Or award, but if the Catalan daily is to be believed, his great rival Lionel Messi is set to win the award again this year.
No more FIFA Ballon d’Or as France Football and FIFA split
Football’s most prestigious individual award that was presented to the best footballer in the world every year, the FIFA Ballon d’Or, was created by the union of the FIFA World Player of the Year award and France Football's Ballon d'Or award in 2010.
The FIFA World Player of the year, introduced in 1991, was awarded until 2009 with the winner decided by votes from national team coaches and captains from all of the association members.
However, since the Ballon d’Or award is not part of FIFA anymore, there are two award galas to look forward to with Ballon d’Or being conducted by France Football and FIFA awarding the “Best Player of the Year” awards.
This split means that the Ballon d’Or will once again be controlled by the French publication, and voting will be reserved exclusively for journalists in Europe, thereby returning to its initial format while the FIFA Best Player of the Year will be decided by votes from national team coaches, captains, players and fans.
Hypothetically speaking, if Ronaldo went on to win the FIFA Best Player of the year and Messi won the Ballon d’Or, fans will have to decide which award would have more credibility.
More football news, analysis and features at Sportskeeda.com
