The Best changes its name and is now called Fifa Awards
FIFA is discussing other changes to the award, which still has no set date or location for 2024; last year was marked by Messi being chosen as the best in the world
A Fifa decidiu mudar o nome do evento em que premia os melhores jogadores, técnicos e gols de cada ano. Já em 2024, a premiação deixa de se chamar The Best para se transformar em Fifa Awards.
The organization has yet to define other changes, such as the award system and the creation of new categories. There is also no set date or location for the 2024 ceremony.
Until 2023, FIFA awarded the best player, best coach and best goalkeeper in the men’s and women’s categories. The voting panel was made up of the captain and coach of all 211 national teams recognized by FIFA, as well as two journalists from each country (one woman and one man).
There were also mixed awards, such as Fair Play, best fan act and the Puskas, given to the best goal scored that year.
The voting period excluded the Qatar World Cup, won by Messi, which was included in the 2022 vote. Neither Messi nor Erling Haaland, who was the favorite to win the award, attended the event.
How does Fifa The Best work?
FIFA has been awarding the best player in the world since 1991, and the best female player since 2001. FIFA The Best, in its current format, was created in 2016. The current ceremony also awards the best goalkeeper, the best female goalkeeper, the best coach in men’s football, the best coach or the best female coach in women’s football, the most beautiful goal in the Puskás Award, and also Fair Play and Fan Award.
A technical committee of the organization defines a list of 10 finalists. The electoral college for the award is made up of journalists, captains, coaches of the national teams and the public, through online voting. Each group has a weight of 25% in the final score.
Since 2016, FIFA has used the European season as the period of analysis. However, with the World Cup taking place at the end of the year in 2022, this edition of The Best had a year and a half taken into account in the voting: from August 2021 to December 2022.
The award for best player in the world was combined with the Ballon d’Or, a traditional trophy awarded by France Football, between 2010 and 2015. However, the two awards are now separate and have different models.
