Football players and fans

I don’t know all ins and outs of a‘split’ between FIFA and the French The France Football magazine, that since 2010 had been jointly choosing the best football player under their patronage, but it seems to me that their breakout was determined from the very beginning by the very product of such cooperation. 

As the FIFA Golden Ball holder has put it, only two football players – Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, were awarded that prize throughout6 years of that cooperation.  

In view of the fact that these two football geniuses started competing for the main individual trophy in 2008,i.e. when the France Football individually determined the player of the year, we can say that the whole generation of football fans grew up during that period, for whom, the third part in this fight will be a priorineedless. 

Under the agreement between FIFA and the French magazine (an initiator of these surveys), captains and head coaches ofallFIFA member national teams,as well as the Media’s selected representatives, willchoose the best player of the planet through voting.

It seemed that when introducing such a procedure, the surveyorganizers wanted toget maximally impartial result, but in the end, it all turned out differently than expected.

I, in no way, questionthe genius of these two football originals but anyway, it seems to me (and not only to me) that in certain cases it was the name’s magic that determined the final.

In other words, an allegation that Messi and Ronaldo were the best in each of the past eight years, is rather disputable. At least during the seasons, when the lasttwoWorld Cups were underway, it could be seen by an unaided eye that the heroes of those tournaments -Injesta, Robben, Nojer and Muller, had missed the prize exclusively due to Messi and Ronaldo’s incredible popularity.

The majority of captains and coaches of all national teams within FIFA (and there are 211 of them for the time being),  have always voted proceeding from their personal biases. Whereas the latter have been already divided between the two megastars. 

Sometimes it seems that some football players and coaches, eligible to vote, will keep ranking Messi and Ronaldo on top of theirsurvey questionnaire forms witha persistent scrupulosity, even after the abovementioned players finish their brilliant careers, having hung their cleats on the nail.

Now, the France Football has decided to get back to wells and conduct independently, without any partnership, the survey to reveal the best football player and to do thataccording toan old and dozen-year tested formula-journalists from the football media outlets with years-proven reputation will select the Golden Ball holder.  

FIFA, in turn, will also proceedwith selecting the globe’s best football player. However, unlike the French magazine’s survey, where an intrigue returns one way or another (since reputation of each media outlet is at stake), FIFA’s survey findings are invariably predictable for many years ahead, untilMessi and Ronaldo finish their football careers.

In addition, FIFA has further blendedits’ already complicated and multistage voting procedure with some ‘pop’ element. So, this year, ordinary fans could also contribute to determining the best player alongside with Mass Media, captains and coaches’ voting. 

Until November 22, any interested individuals can undergo registration on fifa.com website and choose top three players. Football fans and journalists’ votes will total 50% of all points, the rest are the opinions of the national team captains and coaches.

Thus, FIFA survey is doomed to be biased as it will become an ordinary competition between the Argentinian and the Portuguese fan-clubs. Thus, last hope rests on the France Football, that has ‘embarked on a single voyage’ 

However, it won’t be able to avoid inertial thinking at least for a while, especially as Messi and Ronaldo are still in perfect shape.

Published: 11.11.2016