Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann up for inaugural FIFA award

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 08 January 2017

Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann are named as the three contenders for The Best FIFA Men's Player Award at Monday's inaugural ceremony.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann have been named as the three candidates to win The Best FIFA Men's Player Award at Monday's inaugural ceremony.

FIFA has split with France Football Magazine, who award the Ballon d'Or, and will mark its 25th anniversary of naming a world player of the year with a rebranded award ceremony in Zurich.

Ronaldo won his fourth Ballon d'Or last month to cap off a fine 2016 that also saw him help Portugal to their first ever major title at Euro 2016 and Real Madrid to their 11th Champions League crown.

Messi, meanwhile, scored more goals than any other player in 2016 to help Barcelona to another league title, while Griezmann helped Atletico Madrid and France to the finals of the Champions League and Euro 2016 respectively.

Messi and Griezmann finished second and third behind Ronaldo in the voting for the Ballon d'Or in December, but will be hoping to pip the Real Madrid man to the inaugural FIFA crown.

The ceremony will also see the FIFA FIFPro World11 announced, with Leicester City's Jamie Vardy and Gareth Bale of Real Madrid among the 55-man shortlist.

Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri is up for the managerial award alongside Zinedine Zidane and Fernando Santos, while there is also a new FIFA Fan Award for which Liverpool, ADO Den Haag and Iceland are in contention.