FIFA World Player of the Year
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The FIFA World Player of the Year is an Association football award given annually to the male and female player who are thought to be the best in the world, based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams. In a voting system based on a type of a Borda count, each coach gets three votes, worth five points, three points and one point, and the winners are ordered based on total number of points. The award started in 1991 for men and 2001 for women.
The award's youngest winner, male or female, is Ronaldo, who won at the age of 20 in 1996. He won it again in 1997 and 2002. Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Mia Hamm, Birgit Prinz, and Marta are the only players to have won twice in a row. Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Prinz are the only three-time winners. The oldest winner is Fabio Cannavaro who won in 2006 at age 33. The oldest female winner is Hamm, who won in 2002 at age 30, and the youngest female winner is Marta, who won in 2006 at age 20 (but was seven months older than was Ronaldo in 1996).
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[edit] Nomination and Selection Process
Following criticism from some sections of the media over questionable nominations in previous years, in 2004 FIFA drew up a shortlist of 35 men and 21 women from which national team managers and, for the first time, team captains and representatives from FIFPro (the worldwide representative organization for professional players) could vote[1].
Another criticism brought up against the men's nominations is that no player in activity outside of Europe has ever been nominated for the award.[citation needed] Juan Román Riquelme is the only player nominated for the annual award who played for a team outside Europe within the year[citation needed], on loan to Boca Juniors from Villarreal CF for the first half of 2007. Although players from several nationalities, of three continents, have been nominated and won the award, they were all playing for European clubs at the time of their nomination or victory, for which the European Footballer of the Year award is already been given out.
It has been suggested that players active in the leagues of other nations (the next most competitive after UEFA is generally considered Latin America, such as the Argentine, the Brazilian or the Mexican Leagues), are generally overlooked for the award.[citation needed] Others have noted that because of the money involved almost all of the world's best players play in European leagues by the time they mature as players.[citation needed]
The selection process has also faced criticism for apparent bias towards players in the Spanish and Italian leagues. As of 2007, no player outside of these leagues has won the accolade. Examples include the 2007 awards, where Lionel Messi was placed above Cristiano Ronaldo, despite having scored less goals, having fewer assists and having missed 3 months of the season (Ronaldo also finshed above Messi in the European Footballer of the Year awards). Thierry Henry, who came 2nd in 2004, was also statistically better than winner Ronaldinho and played an influential role in Arsenal's unbeaten season.
The competition could also be accused of placing too much weight on World Cup and Champions League achievements. For example, Davor Šuker, who finished as top scorer at the 1998 World Cup, was relatively unprolific at club level. Ronaldo, who won the award in 2002, had not played at all prior to the 2002 World Cup. Prior to the 2006 World Cup, Fabio Cannavaro was not considered to be in contention for the award. Kaká, despite having a hugely successful season in the 2006-07 Champions League, did not reach double figures with his goalscoring in the domestic league and was often rested before Champions League games, whereas many other players could not afford this luxury.
[edit] Winners
[edit] List of male winners
[edit] Players' All-time ranking by places (top 3)
[edit] Wins By Country
Table of winners categorised by the player's nationality (not the nationality of his club).
| Country | First place | Second place | Third place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Image:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil | 8 (1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007) | 3 (1993, 1997, 1998) | 3 (2000, 2003, 2006) |
| 2 | Image:Flag of France.svg France | 3 (1998, 2000, 2003) | 4 (1991, 2003, 2004, 2006) | 2 (1997*, 2002) |
| 3 | Image:Flag of Italy.svg Italy | 2 (1993, 2006) | 1 (1995) | 1 (1994) |
| 4 | Image:Flag of Germany.svg Germany | 1 (1991) | 1 (2002) | 2 (1992, 1995) |
| 5 | Image:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal | 1 (2001) | 1 (2000) | 1 (2007) |
| 6 | Image:Flag of Liberia.svg Liberia | 1 (1995) | 1 (1996) | 0 |
| 7 | Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands | 1 (1992) | 0 | 2 (1993, 1997*) |
| 8 | Image:Flag of England.svg England | 0 | 3 (1999, 2001, 2005) | 2 (1991, 1996) |
| 9 | Image:Flag of Bulgaria.svg Bulgaria | 0 | 2 (1992, 1994) | 0 |
| 10 | Image:Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina | 0 | 2 (1999), 2007) | 0 |
| 11 | Image:Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia | 0 | 0 | 1 (1998) |
| 12 | Image:Flag of Spain.svg Spain | 0 | 0 | 1 (2001) |
| 13 | Image:Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine | 0 | 0 | 1 (2004) |
| 14 | Image:Flag of Cameroon.svg Cameroon | 0 | 0 | 1 (2005) |
* There was a tie for that place
[edit] Wins By Club
*Player was a member of the club for only the first part of the year.
**Player was a member of the club for only the second part of the year.
[edit] List of female winners
[edit] Players' All-time ranking by places (top 3)
| Player | First place | Second place | Third place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Image:Flag of Germany.svg Birgit Prinz | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | Image:Flag of the United States.svg Mia Hamm | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Image:Flag of Brazil.svg Marta | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Image:Flag of the United States.svg Tiffeny Milbrett | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Image:Flag of the United States.svg Kristine Lilly | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 6 | Image:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Sun Wen | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Image:Flag of Sweden.svg Hanna Ljungberg | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Image:Flag of the United States.svg Shannon Boxx | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Image:Flag of Germany.svg Renate Lingor | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Image:Flag of Brazil.svg Cristiane | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[edit] Wins By Country
Table of winners categorised by the player's nationality (not the nationality of her club).
| Country | First place | Second place | Third place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Image:Flag of Germany.svg Germany | 3 (2003, 2004, 2005) | 2 (2002, 2007) | 1 (2006) |
| 2 | Image:Flag of the United States.svg USA | 2 (2001, 2002) | 4 (2001, 2003, 2004, 2006) | 1 (2005) |
| 3 | Image:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil | 2 (2006, 2007) | 1 (2005) | 2 (2004, 2007) |
| 4 | Image:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China PR | 0 | 0 | 2 (2001, 2002) |
| 5 | Image:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden | 0 | 0 | 1 (2003) |
[edit] Wins By Club
| Club | First place | Second place | Third place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Image:Flag of Germany.svg 1. FFC Frankfurt | 3 (2003, 2004, 2005) | 2 (2002, 2007) | 1 (2006) |
| 2 | Image:Flag of Sweden.svg Umeå IK | 2 (2006, 2007) | 1 (2005) | 2 (2003, 2004) |
| 3 | Image:Flag of the United States.svg Washington Freedom | 2 (2001, 2002) | 2 (2003, 2004) | 0 |
| 4 | Image:Flag of Sweden.svg KIF Örebro DFF | 0 | 1 (2006) | 0 |
| 5 | Image:Flag of the United States.svg New York Power | 0 | 1 (2001) | 0 |
| 6 | Image:Flag of the United States.svg Atlanta Beat | 0 | 0 | 2 (2001, 2002) |
| 7 | Image:Flag of Germany.svg VfL Wolfsburg | 0 | 0 | 1 (2007) |
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
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FIFA World Player of the Year
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International football
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