FIFA's World Footballer of the Year award had been established in 1991, and controversy had accompanied it ever since its inception.
For example, many media outlets and fans had criticized it, believing that the award favored players with greater fame rather than those who had performed best that year. Examples included Rivaldo in 1999, Figo in 2001, and Zidane in 2003.
It was not that they lacked the ability to win the award. Rather, they had not won it in the years when they had performed at their best.
Rivaldo had performed best in 1998, but lost to Zidane, only to win the award in 1999. Figo had performed best in 2000, but lost to Zidane, who had just won the European Cup, and instead won in 2001. The same was true of Zidane in 2003. That year, his performance for Real Madrid had actually been inferior to his performance in 2002.
But some people said that this was the charm of football. Sometimes, performing the best did not mean one would win an award or a match.
For example, Bayern Munich in 1999 had been overwhelmingly dominant, yet they lost to Manchester United. Then, in 2001, when Hitzfeld's team was clearly already running out of steam, they somehow won the Champions League.
Regardless, FIFA's World Footballer of the Year award had indeed placed greater emphasis on fame. That was why so many people had valued the European Golden Ball Award more in recent years. Although the latter was merely organized by France Football Magazine, its authority surpassed that of the World Footballer of the Year award.
After the World Footballer of the Year award and the European Golden Ball Award were merged to create the FIFA Golden Ball Award, the voting system stipulated that media votes accounted for only