LUKA PETRINEC / AIPS* in ABU DHABI: Another change to the procedure for choosing the FIFA World Player of the Year is on the way.

First, in 2010, the FIFA award merged with France Football’s long-running Ballon d’Or award for the European Footballer of the Year to create a new FIFA Ballon d’Or.

The latest  change is that the shortlist for the men’s award will feature five players rather than the traditional three.

This was stated by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at a press conference on the eve of the final matches of the FIFA U-17 World Cup UAE 2013.  He was answering a question about his recent exchange with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo after jocular comments by Blatter to the Oxford Union.

Blatter said he was sure the issue would not keep Ronaldo away from the awards ceremony.

Votes on the winner will be undertaken by the captains and head coaches of the men’s national teams and by international media representatives selected by the Paris weekly.

The winner will be revealed at the annual FIFA Gala on January 13 in Zurich. The winner of the inaugural 2010 FIFA Ballon d’Or was Barcelona and Argentina’s Lionel Messi who was crowned again in the following two years.

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* AIPS, the international sports journalists association, is running a Young Reporters course at the FIFA U-17 World Cup UAE 2013 with the support of the local organising committee and FIFA

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