Five Premier League players have been nominated for the 2013 Ballon d'Or among a list of 23 hopefuls for the accolade on Tuesday.
Arsenal's Mesut Ozil, Chelsea winger Eden Hazard, Luis Suarez of Liverpool, Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure and last season's top scorer in the division Robin van Persie of Manchester United have all had their names put forward by FIFA and France Football for the award.
Former Tottenham Hotspur man Gareth Bale, who is now at Real Madrid, is also among the shortlist for the honour that has been won by Barcelona's Lionel Messi for the past three years on the spin.
"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 by France Football," a FIFA statement said regarding the selection of a top three.
"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."
Men's Shortlist for the FIFA 2012 Ballon d'Or:
Gareth Bale (Wales), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay), Radamel Falcao (Colombia), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Franck Ribery (France), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Luis Suarez (Uruguay), Thiago Silva (Brazil), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast), Robin van Persie (Netherlands), Xavi (Spain)
Matt Cotton
