Nominees for FIA Ballon d"Or

The contenders for this year’s FIFA Ballon d’Or award for the best player of 2013 and for the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year 2013 award were announced today on FIFA.com, francefootball.fr and YouTube.

In alphabetical order, the FIFA Ballon d’Or nominees are: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Franck Ribéry (France), while Nadine Angerer (Germany), Marta (Brazil) and Abby Wambach (USA) will contest the women’s award.

The candidates for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football and FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football awards were also announced. In alphabetical order, the contenders are:

Sir Alex Ferguson (Scotland/Manchester United FC former coach), Jupp Heynckes (Germany/FC Bayern München former coach) and Jürgen Klopp (Germany/Borussia Dortmund) for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football award, and Ralf Kellermann (Germany/VfL Wolfsburg), Silvia Neid (Germany/German national team) and Pia Sundhage (Sweden/Swedish national team) for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football award.

All the nominees were confirmed after a voting process which was open to the captains and head coaches of the men’s and women’s national teams of the 209 member associations as well as to international media representatives selected by FIFA and France Football voted for candidates.

The percentages of the collected votes are as follows (number of votes/number of associations):
Voting for men’s awards: 
Member associations (captains & coaches): 88%
Media representatives: 94%

Voting for women’s awards: 
Member associations (captains & coaches): 83%
Media representatives: 70%

The voting procedure for each of the awards is supervised and monitored by the independent observer PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Switzerland.

The shortlist of 15 forwards for the FIFA FIFPro World XI was also announced, completing the final shortlist of 55 players also featuring five goalkeepers, 20 defenders and 15 midfielders.

The forward shortlist is (home country, club):
Sergio Agüero (Argentina, Manchester City FC); Mario Balotelli (Italy, Manchester City FC/AC Milan); Edinson Cavani (Uruguay, SSC Napoli/Paris Saint-Germain FC); Diego Costa (Spain, Club Atlético de Madrid); Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid CF); Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire, Shanghai Shenhua FC/Galatasaray SK); Radamel Falcao (Colombia, Club Atlético de Madrid/AS Monaco FC); Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden, Paris Saint-Germain FC); Robert Lewandowski (Poland, Borussia Dortmund); Mario Mandžukić (Croatia, FC Bayern München); Lionel Messi (Argentina, FC Barcelona); Neymar (Brazil, Santos FC/FC Barcelona); Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United FC); Luis Suárez (Uruguay, Liverpool FC); Robin van Persie (Netherlands, Manchester United FC).

See the full list on FIFA.com: http://www.fifa.com/ballondor/world11/index.html

In addition, the three nominees for the FIFA Puskás Award for the “most beautiful goal of the year” were announced. They are (in alphabetical order of the goalscorers’ names): Zlatan Ibrahimović (13 November 2012, Sweden v. England, international friendly), Nemanja Matić (13 January 2013, SL Benfica v. FC Porto, Liga ZON Sagres (Portugal)) and Neymar (15 June 2013, Brazil v. Japan, FIFA Confederations Cup).

All the awards will be presented at the FIFA Ballon d’Or award ceremony at the Kongresshaus in Zurich on 13 January 2014 during a televised show to be streamed live on FIFA.com and FIFA on YouTube.

In addition to the above awards, the recipient of the FIFA Presidential Award and the winner of the FIFA Fair Play award will also be revealed during the award ceremony.

For more information about the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2013, including a list of previous winners, please visit www.FIFA.com and www.francefootball.fr.

.

Zheng Zhi has become the first Chinese player to be named AFC Player of the Year since Fan Zhiyi claimed Asian football’s highest individual accolade in 2001.

Guangzhou Evergrande skipper Zheng, who collected the prestigious award from AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa,  led by example throughout the Chinese side’s victorious AFC Champions League campaign, with the 33-year-old’s assured performances throughout the tournament as well as his telling contribution in China regaining their consistency following the departure of Jose Antonio Camacho and moving to within one point of qualification for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

The decision to award the former Celtic and Charlton Athletic midfielder the 2013 AFC Player of the Year award ahead of Iran star Javad Nekonam and Korea Republic’s Ha Dae-sung marks something of a reversal of fortune for Zhang, after he had to settle for third last year behind Iranian legend Ali Karimi and recipient Lee Keun-ho.

"I am very excited..after coming last year without award its very special this time….there is a special feeling of winning this award at the age of 33. It’s a big occasion for me to win this award," Zheng said after winning the coveted trophy.

"This season has been fantastic season not only for me but the whole teammates,...we are looking for the unique treble after winning the ACL and the league so it's been a memorable one. 

"Marchello Lippi has made the club more matured and confident and we know our strength and weakness more than ever. 

"Honestly, I thought that I would not win award again after I was confined of being only nominee last year but it’ s down to my teammates without whom it would have been impossible to win this again. 

"I am not young anymore but I still have desire to produce my best not only for the club but for my national team as well. 

"Actually there are lot of talented players in the club and national team coming through the ranks, they are the future of Chinese football. I would continue playing with my national team but at the same time hope that more youngsters break in at the national fold. 

“Next year will be quite difficult but we will keep on working hard and win more laurels to Guangzhou Evergrande."  -AFC.

FIFA Ballon d'Or 2013 shortlist

FIFA and France Football have today (29 Oct) revealed the names for the men’s awards.

The candidates for the FIFA Ballon d’Or and for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football awards have been unveiled (see below). The final decisions will be made by the captains and head coaches of the men’s national teams as well as by international media representatives selected byFrance Football.

The winners of all of the awards will be revealed at the FIFA Ballon d’Or as part of a televised show at the Zurich Kongresshaus on 13 January 2014, during which the FIFA FIFPro World XI, the FIFA Puskás Award – for the most beautiful goal of the year – the FIFA Presidential Award and the FIFA Fair Play Award will also be presented.

The list of 23 male candidates has been drawn up by football experts from the FIFA Football Committee and by a group of experts from France Football. The list of ten coaches has been drawn up by the Committee for Women’s Football and FIFA Women’s World Cup and by the FIFA Football Committee, as well as by a group of experts from France Football.

In early December 2013, FIFA and France Football will announce the names of the three men and three women, as well as the three coaches for women’s football and three coaches for men’s football, who have received the most votes (without unveiling the winners). The three nominees for the FIFA Puskás Award and the FIFA FIFPro World XI shortlist for the best forwards, goalkeepers, defenders and midfielders will also be  unveiled in early December.

Men’s shortlists for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2013

The following 23 men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2013:

Gareth Bale (Wales), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay), Radamel Falcao (Colombia), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Müller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Özil (Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Franck Ribéry (France), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Luis Suárez (Uruguay), Thiago Silva (Brazil), Yaya Touré (Côte d’Ivoire), Robin Van Persie (Netherlands), Xavi (Spain).

The following ten coaches (in alphabetical order, first nationality and then team) are in contention for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football 2013:

Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Paris Saint-Germain FC/Real Madrid CF), Rafael Benítez (Spain/Chelsea FC/SSC Napoli), Antonio Conte (Italy/Juventus), Vicente Del Bosque (Spain/Spain national team), Sir Alex Ferguson (Scotland/Manchester United FC former coach), Jupp Heynckes (Germany/FC Bayern München former coach), Jürgen Klopp (Germany/Borussia Dortmund), José Mourinho (Portugal/Real Madrid CF/Chelsea FC), Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil/Brazil national team), Arsène Wenger (France/Arsenal FC)._FIFA.

Santions on El Salvador players

Following the worldwide extension of sanctions imposed on 16 El Salvador players earlier this month, FIFA can today confirm the extension of sanctions imposed on three additional El Salvador players relating to match-manipulation investigations. The three players have received a six-month ban, a 12-month ban and a five-year ban from all football-related activities respectively. The chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to extend the sanctions to have worldwide effect in accordance with article 78 paragraph 1(c) and article 136ff of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. The concerned parties were notified of the decision today. The Disciplinary Committee of the El Salvador FA decided to impose the sanctions on 9 October 2013. This followed investigations conducted by the El Salvador FA into incidents of match manipulation that occurred in international matches, including friendlies and CONCACAF Gold Cup matches, of the El Salvador national “A” team in 2010, as well as matches involving the El Salvador U-20 national team. FIFA continues to work closely with its member associations and the confederations to tackle match manipulation. As part of a ten-year programme of collaboration with INTERPOL, regional workshops involving key stakeholders are being held all over the world while recently launched e-learning programmes are also helping to educate players, coaches and referees on the dangers of match manipulation to help them to avoid becoming victims of this threat to football integrity. Other initiatives include the signing of an integrity declaration by officials, the monitoring of the betting market via FIFA’s subsidiary Early Warning System (EWS) and the setting up of an e-learning ethics tool, an integrity hotline and e-mail address, and a confidential reporting system.

FIFA, Interpol unveil e-learning tools to fight match manipulation

FIFA and INTERPOL have launched a series of e-learning programmes aimed at educating players, coaches and referees on the dangers of match manipulation to help them avoid becoming victims of this threat to football integrity. The online programmes, each focusing on a different group often targeted by match-fixers, offer an interactive guide on how to recognise, resist and report attempts at match-fixing and related issues. The programmes are available in five languages (Arabic, English, French, Spanish and German) on both the FIFA and INTERPOL websites. FIFA Security Director Ralf Mutschke says that the programmes represent a key deliverable of the FIFA/INTERPOL initiative, which aims to improve awareness and understanding of corruption in football, and the methods to detect and counteract it. “FIFA and INTERPOL are placing huge importance on combatting match manipulation as it continues to threaten the integrity of football,” said Mutschke. “One of the keys to success is raising awareness within the football community and providing educational tools for the people most at risk of being influenced by match-fixers. For the first time, football has a widely accessible resource that presents match manipulation-related issues in a practical, targeted and visually stimulating way.” The e-learning modules are highly interactive, using quizzes, games and audio-visual elements helping to emphasise the key messages. Real-life scenarios are also incorporated to help users more easily identify the tactics that match-fixers might use to pressure them into manipulating a match. “With the launch of our comprehensive e-learning modules, the football community now has a tool to help protect the sport against threats posed by organised criminal networks which seek to make an illegal profit through match manipulation,” said Michaela Ragg, Assistant Director of INTERPOL’s Integrity in Sport unit.  “By educating the players, coaches and referees who are at high risk of being coerced into fixing a match, we hope the e-learning programmes will equip them with the knowledge and ability to resist these approaches and protect the integrity of the sport,” she concluded. The programmes are designed to be used by FIFA’s member associations as part of their existing integrity training, or as standalone training programmes. They form part of a wider effort to preserve football from the growing threat of match-fixing. FIFA and INTERPOL agreed a ten-year joint initiative in May 2011 to enhance global efforts to tackle match manipulation and corruption in the sport. As part of the initiative, INTERPOL has organised more than 11 Integrity in Sport workshops in all regions of the world, with support from FIFA. Information sessions are held in advance of all FIFA tournaments, and an anonymous hotline has been created for people to report tips or suspicious activity. In addition, INTERPOL has also coordinated major conferences bringing together football associations, betting companies, gambling regulatory authorities and law enforcement to tackle the issues related to corruption in football and its links to organised crime.

Cheaper tickets

More great news for football fans in the on-going 41^st Merdeka Tournament in Kuantan!

The Football Association of Malaysia is offering a further reduction in ticket prices for matches at the Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan and Temerloh Stadium for the Merdeka Tournament - Asia’s most prestigious tournament.

Tickets for the match between Malaysia and Thailand at the Darul Makmur Stadium on Wednesday, September 11, 2013 (kick-off 8.45pm), are priced at RM20 (free seating) and RM50 (grand stand).

However, tickets for the Myanmar versus Singapore match (kick-off 8.45pm) on Wednesday, September, 11, 2013, at the Temerloh Stadium are available at RM20 (free seating) and RM25 (grand stand).

The prices of tickets for the final on Saturday, September 14, 2013, at the Darul Makmur Stadium will remain at RM20 (free seating) and RM50 for grand stand.

Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) general-secretary Dato’ Hamidin Haji Mohd Amin, said the decision to further reduce ticket prices is to allow fans, particularly those residing in Kuantan and neighbouring towns to support the national team.

 

“Malaysia have already qualified for the final and having discussed with our commercial partners, we have agreed to reduce ticket pricings to give an opportunity to fans to come and support  Malaysia tomorrow in the last group match at the Darul  Makmur stadium and also in the final,” said Dato’ Hamidin in Kuantan., Tuesday (10 Sept).

Malaysia 0 Jordan 1

A well-taken freekick from Shahnaz Yaseen Mahmoud Jebreen gave Jordan a 1-0 win over Malaysia as they took the lead in Group A of the AFF Aya Bank Women’s Championship here at the Youth Training Centre in Yangon, Monday (9 Sept).

In an evenly contested affair, the Jordanian girls scored the only goal of the game off Shahnaz Yaseen eight minutes to the end.

Both teams showed quality to play good attacking football with Malaysia the better side in the first half as they hit the post twice off Angela Kais and Dadree Rofinus.

Jordan replied with a freekick from Yasmeen Salim Khair two minutes after the restart which forced a scrambling save from Malaysia’s Asma Junaidi.

A minute later Nosuraini Mazli should have given Malaysia the lead but despite being unchallenged, she blasted the ball straight to Jordan keeper Zina Al Sadi.

The change for Shahnaz in place of Abeer Mahmoud Alnahar in the 80^th minute gave Jordan more pace and just two minutes later, she put them in front with a superb freekick to beat Asma for the full points.

RESULTS – Group A

Thailand 0 Vietnam 0

Jordan 1 Malaysia 0

Group A Current Standings

Teams	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
JORDAN	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	3
VIETNAM	1	0	1	0	0	0	=	1
THAILAND	1	0	1	0	0	0	=	1
MALAYSIA	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0
AUSTRALIA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0