THE BEST: FIFA's New Award To Crown The Best 2016 – Allow Fans to Vote Online

Who is The Best? The world will find out in Zurich on 9 January. The Best FIFA Football Awards™, the inaugural edition of the FIFA awards for football excellence, will be the definitive accolade to celebrate the greatest performers of 2016.

The Best FIFA Football Awards will not only be the game’s highest honour for coaches and footballers, but also a celebration in which football fans will play a vital and active part. 

"This event will be about football and its most passionate participants – players, coaches and fans," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. "It is a new event with new approaches to celebrating the game we all love."

The Best of 2016 will feature an improved voting system that will enable fans to support the player and coach of the year in both men’s and women’s football. The winners will be chosen via a process in which 50% of the result is based on the choices of captains and head coaches of all of the world’s national teams. The other 50% will be split between the result of an online public ballot and the submissions from a selected group of more than 200 media representatives from around the world.

Best FIFA Football Awards will also be a celebration of those who love the sport, with the unveiling of the new FIFA Fan Award. A panel of football experts will shortlist remarkable moments throughout the year involving exemplary and passionate football supporters. It will then be up to the fans themselves to vote for their favorite moment on FIFA’s digital platforms.

A total of eight trophies will be presented at The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony:

• * The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2016
• * The Best FIFA Women’s Player 2016
• * The Best FIFA Men’s Coach 2016
• * The Best FIFA Women’s Coach 2016
• * The FIFA Puskás Award 2016
• * The FIFA Fair Play Award 2016
• * The FIFA Fan Award 2016
• * FIFA FIFPro World 11

•  

Professional footballers from around the world will select their dream line-up of 2016 by voting for the FIFA FIFPro World 11. Fans will choose the winner of the FIFA Puskás Award for goal of the year through an online public ballot, while a group of football experts will decide the recipient of the FIFA Fair Play Award.

A select group of lucky football fans will enjoy The Best FIFA Football Awards in a special way. During the weeks leading up to the event, a social media contest on FIFA’s official platforms will award 11 tickets plus travel and accommodation for supporters from around the world to travel to Zürich and follow the award show from the inside.

The first activity related to The Best of 2016 will get underway this week with the unveiling of the shortlist for four awards:

• * Tuesday, 1 November: ten candidates for The Best FIFA Women’s Coach 2016
• * Wednesday, 2 November: ten candidates for The Best FIFA Men’s Coach 2016
• * Thursday, 3 November: ten candidates for The Best FIFA Women’s Player 2016
• * Friday, 4 November: 23 candidates for The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2016

The voting process for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2016 in the four categories above will be launched on 4 November and will close on 22 November. The final list with the three nominees for each of these awards will be unveiled on 2 December.

More details about the awards and the main show can be found on FIFA.com and the official Facebook page.