FIFA Player of the Century
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FIFA Player of the Century was a one-off award created by FIFA to decide the greatest football player of the 20th century. Initially the award was set to be decided via an internet vote by the people, but after Diego Maradona won the poll, FIFA controversially made the award a joint-award, sharing the honour with Pelé as FIFA officials pick.[1] The two men are both officially considered winners of this award.
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[edit] Background
Since 1991, FIFA have had awards for FIFA World Player of the Year and they decided to bring in the new millennium by conducting a public vote to decide the FIFA Player of the Century. This was to be decided by votes on their official website, their official magazine and a grand jury. However, Diego Maradona who has had a chequred history with the organisation was far ahead of Pelé as the people's choice, who has a strong FIFA relationship.
The Argentine was 78,000 votes ahead of Pelé on 26,000,[2] at this point FIFA changed the rules of the award, deciding instead to split the award between the two men. With Maradona as the people's choice, while Pelé was given the same award after been chosen by a dury of FIFA officials. The media reporting on the award described the changes as a "farse" and a "swindle", noting that it unfairly portrayed Pelé as a political pawn and FIFA "robbed" Maradona of an award chosen by the people.[3][4]
[edit] The ceremony in Rome
[edit] Mens
[edit] FIFA public vote
This was decided on FIFA's official website, with the general public been allowed to vote for who they thought was the best player of the 20th century, the results of the top 20 were as follows.[5]
[edit] FIFA officials choice
This part of the award was decided by the FIFA organisation's officials, part of Sepp Blatter's inner circle.[6][7]
| Player | Nationality | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pelé | Image:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil | 72.8% |
| 2 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | Image:Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina | 9.8% |
| 3 | Diego Maradona | Image:Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina | 6.0% |
| 4 | Franz Beckenbauer | Image:Flag of Germany.svg Germany | ?% |
| 5 | Johan Cruijff | Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands | ?% |
| 6 | Marco Van Basten | Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands | ?% |
[edit] References
- ^ "Maradona or Pele? Feud leads FIFA to name two players of the century", Sports Illustrated, 29 November 2007.
- ^ "Pele sad at Maradona snub", BBC, 29 November 2007.
- ^ "The great FIFA swindle", Sports Illustrated, 29 November 2007.
- ^ "Maradona and Pele Allowed to Look Foolish at Awards Ceremony : Football Greats Tangled in the Web", IHT.com, 29 November 2007.
- ^ "FIFA Internet Award - Men", FIFA, 29 November 2007.
- ^ "Pele, Maradona split player of 20th century award", CBC.ca, 29 November 2007.
- ^ "FIFA player of the 20th Century (election-day :11-12-2000 in Roma, Italy)", FIFA, 29 November 2007.
