The wait is almost over! FIFA are all set to announce the winner of their all new award “The Best”. Here’s all the information you need to know about the upcoming big event in the world of football.
What is “The Best” and what was “Ballon d’Or”?
FIFA’s brand new award “The Best” honours, as the name says, awards the best footballers and coaches of the year. 2016 is the first time it is being given out, following the breakup with France Football and the Ballon d’Or. For 5 years (2010 to 2015), there was only one award being presented called the “FIFA Ballon d’Or”.
When and where is it being held?
The show will commence at 17:30 UK time (23:00 in India) on January 9th (Monday), and several awards will be presented on the night. The award ceremony will be held at Zurich, Switzerland, where FIFA's headquarters is located.
Who are the contenders and who is likely to win?
Out of a 23-man shortlist released earlier, the top three nominated out of them are Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and quite unsurprisingly, Antoine Griezmann. Ronaldo seems most likely to win it mainly due to his contributions to club and country, where he won European trophies with Real Madrid and Portugal. The Portuguese star took home the 2016 Ballon d’Or as well, thanks to his incredible contributions in 2016.
What are the other awards being given out that day?
Other awards to be presented on the day are:
#1 Best Men’s player of 2016 – Finalists are Messi, Ronaldo and Griezmann
#2 Best Women’s player of 2016 – Finalists are Carli Lloyd, Marta and Melanie Behringer
#3 Best Men’s coach of 2016 – Finalists are Claudio Ranieri, Fernando Santos and Zinedine Zidane
#4 Best Women’s coach of 2016 – Finalists are Pia Sundhage, Jill Ellis and Silvia Neid
#5 The Puskas award 2016 – Full list of finalists, which includes the likes of Messi, Neymar and Saul Niguez, can be seen here: http://www.fifa.com/the-best-fifa-football-awards/puskas-award/
#6 The Fan award 2016 – Finalists include Iceland fans, Liverpool/Dortmund fans and ADO Den Haag fans
#7 FIFPro World XI 2016 – The best players playing in their positions in a standard formation, which is also an influential factor for the FIFA Ultimate team’s Team of the Year player cards.
#8 The FIFA Fair Play award 2016 – Awarded to an individual/organisation showing the best moment of fair play in the previous season.
Where can I watch it?
Sportskeeda will be running a live blog where you can follow the latest on the Fifa The Best Awards. Follow Sportskeeda Football for more updates
