After FIFA World Footballer of the Year and France Football's European Golden Ball Award were merged, the selection process for the first FIFA Golden Ball Award also underwent major changes.
The FIFA Golden Ball Award was still primarily decided by votes. In the past, World Footballer of the Year had been selected by the National Team head coaches and captains under FIFA, while the European Golden Ball Award had been decided by the global media recognized by France Football Magazine.
After the merger, the new rules combined the selection mechanisms of the two awards. The National Team head coaches and captains of FIFA's 208 member associations would vote, with FIFA responsible for collecting their ballots. Another 208 media outlets from around the world would also participate, with France Football Magazine collecting their votes. Each of the three groups would account for one-third of the total.
In other words, the first FIFA Golden Ball Award had a total of 624 judges from all over the world.
The new selection process also brought many unexpected changes.
For example, before the three finalists were announced, everyone had considered Sneijder the overwhelming favorite.
The Dutchman had produced a peak season at Real Madrid, winning the La Liga and Champions League Double Crown. He had then led the Netherlands into the World Cup final. In theory, he absolutely deserved the award.
There was also Barcelona's Xavi. There was no need to say much about the performance and ability of this world-class midfielder, or his importance to Barcelona and the Spain National Team. He had unquestionably been the Spain National Team's greatest contributor to winning the World Cup.
But no one had expected that neither of them would appear on the final shortlist of three. Instead, Yang Yang and Messi had been nominated.
Neither Yang Yang