FIFA 100
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The FIFA 100 is a list of the world-renowned Brazilian striker Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on March 4, 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international governing body of football.
The figure 100 refers to the 100th anniversary of FIFA and not the number of players listed, which is actually 125; Pelé had been asked to select 50 active players and 50 retired players, for a total of 100 players, but found it too difficult to limit the number of former players to just 50.[1] The list contains 123 professional men and 2 women players. At the time the FIFA 100 was selected, 50 of the players were still active, with the remaining 75 retired from the game.
[edit] Criticism
Some football observers have questioned the selection methodology of the list. David Mellor, former politician turned football pundit, wrote in his column in the Evening Standard, that he felt the selections were politically motivated rather than made on purely footballing grounds.[2] He suggested that the selections looked as if they came from the pen of Sepp Blatter rather than Pelé. As evidence for this, Mellor noted the wide geographical spread of the selected players, noting in particular Abédi Pelé of Ghana, Hong Myung-Bo of South Korea and El-Hadji Diouf of Senegal: a true selection would be more heavily biased to South America and Europe, he claimed. Such assertions were also forwarded by BBC columnist Tim Vickery.[3]
One of Pelé's old team-mates, the former Brazil midfielder Jairzinho, reacted to his omission from the FIFA 100 by tearing up a copy of the list on a Brazilian television programme.[4]
Marco van Basten and Uwe Seeler refused to take part in the project on a point of principle.[5]
[edit] List
Following is the list of the "FIFA 100" greatest living footballers as nominated by Pelé.
- Players active at the time of announcement are marked by (*).
- Players who are still active as of 2007 are in italics.
[edit] See also
- FIFA World Rankings
- World soccer players of the 20th century
- FIFA Women's World Rankings
- Placar Magazine 100 of world cups
[edit] References
- ^ "Fifa names greatest list", BBC, 2004-03-04. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ^ Mellor, David. "Sing up for Ken, a true Blues man", Evening Standard, Associated Newspapers Ltd., 2004-03-05, p. 77. Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
- ^ Vickery, Tim. "Pele pays price for popularity", BBC, 2004-03-08. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ^ Marzocchi, Massimo. "Dalglish in as Pele is blasted in Brazil for his top 125", The Scotsman, 2004-03-05. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ^ Davies, Christopher. "Pele open to ridicule over top hundred", Daily Telegraph, 2004-03-04. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
[edit] External links
International football
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