For the first time ever, the gala for the Ballon d’Or will also include a presentation for the inaugural awarding of the Kopa Trophy — a prize given to the world's best under 21 player, so really just another Golden Boy because we really need more individual prizes in this sport, don’t we?
Regardless, the 10 finalists for the prize include:
In news that will surprise no one, Qatar is still exploiting migrant workers in the build up to the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Qatar has not done enough to reform its “kafala” system, through which employees are bound to single employers, often to abusive ends, according to a recent report from Amnesty International.
As captains of their respective national teams, both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were given votes in deciding The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2018. It’s an award that the two have dominated — in it’s various guises — ever since Kaka was named FIFA World Player of the Year back in 2007 (Messi finished second and Ronaldo third that year).
Luka Modric has claimed The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2018 award ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah (and dare I say it at risk of being murdered, Lionel Messi), but that contentious decision pales compared to everything else that unfolded at a star-studded gala (sans Messi and Ronaldo) in London on Monday evening.
One day after it was revealed that FC Barcelona and Girona FC had submitted formal proposals to move their LaLiga match from Estadi Montilivi to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami in accordance with a 15-year marketing agreement between Spain’s top division and Relevant Sports,
First things first, I mean absolutely no disrespect to Marta. When I tackled the impossible task of ranking the 18 greatest female soccer players of all time last week, I concluded with Marta in the top spot. She’s an unreal footballer, but 2018 hasn’t exactly been the best of the 32-year-old’s career. And yet here she is as one of three finalists shortlisted for The Best FIFA Women’s Player 2018.
It really shouldn’t come as a surprise given the outcome of the 2017-18 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award voting (finishing order: Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah), but the three finalists for The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2018 are Modric, Ronaldo and Salah, leaving the likes of Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Kevin De Bruyne on the outside looking in.