Ballon d'Or (1956–2009)

The Ballon d'Or (French pronunciation: ​[balɔ̃ dɔʁ]; "Golden Ball"), often referred to as the European Footballer of the Year award, was an annual association football award presented by France Football between 1956 and 2009. Conceived by chief magazine writer Gabriel Hanot, the award honoured the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous year, based on a voting by Europe-based journalists. Originally, only European players were in contention for the Ballon d'Or, but from 1995 all players at European clubs were eligible.

Stanley Matthews of Blackpool was the inaugural winner of the Ballon d'Or.Milan's George Weah, the only African recipient, became the first non-European to win the award in the year the rules of eligibility were changed.Ronaldo of Internazionale became the first South American winner two years later. The final recipient of the Ballon d'Or was Barcelona's Lionel Messi. Three players won the award three times each: Johan Cruyff of Ajax and Barcelona, Michel Platini of Juventus, and Marco van Basten of Milan. With seven awards each, Dutch and German players won the most Ballons d'Or. Italian clubs Juventus and Milan had the most winners respectively; six players won eight awards while playing for each club.

2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or

The 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the fourth year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich on 13 January 2014. The deadline for voting was 15 November 2013 but was extended to 29 November 2013.

Real Madrid and Portugal left winger Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or award as the World Player of the Year. It was his second Ballon d'Or, after winning the award in 2008, as well as his first FIFA Ballon d'Or. Nadine Angerer was announced as the Women's World Player of the Year recipient, while Jupp Heynckes claimed the World Coach of the Year for Men's Football, and Silvia Neid the World Coach of the Year for Women's Football. The ninety-minute ceremony was hosted by Fernanda Lima along with Ruud Gullit.

Voting

The deadline for voting was 15 November 2013. However, for the first time ever, on 20 November 2013, FIFA announced that voting was extended to 29 November 2013 for "after receiving a response of less than 50% from eligible voters before the original deadline." It was also announced that any vote cast before the first deadline can be changed to "take into account recent performances." The winners were announced on 13 January 2014.

FIFA Ballon d'Or

The FIFA Ballon d'Or (French pronunciation: ​[balɔ̃ dɔʁ], "Golden Ball") is an annual association football award given to the world's best male player by the sport's governing body, FIFA, and the French publication France Football since 2010. It is awarded based on votes from international media representatives and national team coaches and captains, who select the player they deem to have performed the best in the previous calendar year. A fusion between the former Ballon d'Or and the men's FIFA World Player of the Year award, the FIFA Ballon d'Or is considered the most prestigious individual award in world football.

Since its inception, the FIFA Ballon d'Or has been dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as part of their ongoing rivalry. Barcelona's Messi won the inaugural Ballon d'Or, before reclaiming the title the following two years and again in 2015. Ronaldo, who plays for Real Madrid, won two successive awards in the intervening years.

Background

Prior to 2010, the leading individual awards in association football were the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award. The original Ballon d'Or, also known as the European Footballer of the Year award, had been awarded by the French publication France Football since 1956. European sports journalists invited by France Football selected the recipients from among European or Europe-based players. The FIFA World Player of the Year award, presented by the governing body FIFA from 1991, was international in scope. Winners were chosen by the national team coaches and captains under FIFA's jurisdiction.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, GOIH (born 5 February 1985), known as Cristiano Ronaldo (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɾɨʃtiˈɐnu ʁuˈnaɫdu]), is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and the Portugal national team. He is a forward and serves as captain for Portugal. By the age of 22, Ronaldo had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations. The following year, in 2008, he won his first Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He then won the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2013 and 2014. In September 2015, Ronaldo scored his 500th senior career goal for club and country.

Often ranked as the best player in the world and rated by some in the sport as the greatest of all time, in 2015 Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation, during its 100th anniversary celebrations. He is the first player to win four European Golden Shoe awards. With Manchester United and Real Madrid, Ronaldo has won three Premier Leagues, one La Liga, one FA Cup, two Football League Cups, two Copas del Rey, two UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA Super Cup and two FIFA Club World Cups.

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA /ˈfiːfə/; English:International Federation of Association Football) is the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football. FIFA is responsible for the organisation of football's major international tournaments, notably the World Cup which commenced in 1930 and the Women's World Cup which commenced in 1991.

FIFA was founded in 1904 to oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, its membership now comprises 209 national associations. Member countries must each also be members of one of the six regional confederations into which the world is divided: Africa, Asia, Europe, North & Central America and the Caribbean, Oceania and South America.

Although FIFA does not control the rules of football (that being the responsibility of the International Football Association Board), it is responsible for both the organization of a number of tournaments and their promotion, which generate revenue from sponsorship. In 2013 FIFA had revenues of over 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, for a net profit of 72 million, and had cash reserves of over 1.4 billion U.S. dollars.