FIFA, governing body of the world’s biggest sport, today released the longest “short” list for an award ever before seen. The annual Ballon d’Or is the mark to which all players the world round set their sights. Winning the award is the Super Bowl MVP of soccer and may even be more prestigious than winning the Operator of the Year at the eGR Awards. Only difference there is that the player that wins the Ballon d’Or probably won’t be getting obliterated on as many cocktails as they can get their hands on.
The 55-player list includes many surprises such as Tottenham’s Gareth Bale, but it’s really a pointless venture for many of these players. Top of the list is likely to be dominated by stars of the Spanish World Cup team, with Inter’s Wesley Sneijder likely the ugly duckling amongst these contenders.
As far as the bookies are concerned, it’s likely they’ll have a ball with 55 different contenders for the award. Alex O’Donohue, public relations spokes person at Ladbrokes, commented:
“It comes as no surprise to see the short-list dominated by Spanish players with Xavi the shortest priced at 5/2. He has attracted some considerable support but is yet to displace Wesley Sneijder from the top of the market who is the 5/4 favourite. It appears to be a coin toss between these two as every other candidate is friendless in the market with the exception of some small support for Asamoah Gyan at 100/1.”
Now I’m off to try to get a ticket for this party. Footballers are rarely out of the papers, it’s sure to be off the hook!
