- The FIFA Best Player award has been separated from the Ballon d'Or
- This separation happened when FIFA decided to end the deal between FIFA and the Ballon d'Or organizers
- Portugal captain Cristano Ronaldo is the current Ballon d'Or and FIFA The Best holder
Portugese Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentine legend Lionel Messi have gone neck to neck for all of the great individual awards in football in the last 10 years.
Ronaldo and Messi and 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or. Source: Fourfourtwo
There has been a confusion among football fans in determining the difference in the Ballon D'or and the newly introduced FIFA the best award, rightly so, because football fans have become more used to the Ballon D'or winners being the best player in the world.
FIFA World Best final three in 2007. Source: Mercury
The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony was held in London on Monday, October 23, 2017 at the London Palladium, and is the second since the FIFA award split from France Football's Ballon d'Or prize.
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Cristiano Ronaldo is the current Ballon d'Or holder and also just won the FIFA men's World player of the year award for the second time consecutively ahead of Lionel Messi and Neymar.
The Fifa World Player of the Year award was merged in a partnership with France Football's Ballon d'Or in 2010 to become the FIFA Ballon d'Or for the next six years.
FIFA agreed to pay £13million to merge the two awards, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi the big winners as the two football legends dominated throughout the six-year deal.
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With the hierarchy changing hands at FIFA, Infantino's led FIFA decided not to renew the deal in 2016, meaning the Ballon d'Or lost its 'Fifa' tag and went back to being voted for by journalists as a separate award as FIFA's The Best awards were created.
Ronaldo winning the FIFA The Best award on Monday night in London. Source: ESPN
The Best FIFA men's Player award is voted for by a collection of journalists, national team coaches, national team captains and the general public - each with a 25 per cent weighting towards the overall vote.
The Ballon d'Or winner will be announced today, December 7.
NAIJ.com earlier reported that Real Madrid and Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the 2017 FIFA footballer of the year in The Best awards ceremony held in London, England.
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Source: Sports.naija.ng
ROSY CREST
Thursday, 7 December 2017