The 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or (), was the second year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich on 9 January 2012, with Lionel Messi claiming the title of world player of the year for the third time in a row.
The gala ceremony was hosted by former Ballon d'Or winner Ruud Gullit and broadcast journalist Kay Murray of Real Madrid TV and Fox Soccer Channel, with singer-songwriter James Blunt and his band providing musical entertainment.
Winners and nominees
FIFA Ballon d'Or The top three nominees for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or were:
Rank Player National team Club(s) Percent 1st Lionel Messi Barcelona 47.88% 2nd Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 21.60% 3rd Xavi Barcelona 9.23%
The following twenty players were also in contention for the award:
Rank Player National team Club(s) Percent 4th Andrés Iniesta Barcelona 6.01% 5th Wayne Rooney Manchester United 2.31% 6th Luis Suárez Ajax Liverpool 1.48% 7th Diego Forlán Atlético Madrid Internazionale 1.43% 8th Samuel Eto'o Internazionale Anzhi Makhachkala 1.34% 9th Iker Casillas Real Madrid 1.29% 10th Neymar Santos 1.12% 11th Mesut Özil Real Madrid 0.76% 12th Wesley Sneijder Internazionale 0.72% 13th Thomas Müller Bayern Munich 0.64% 14th David Villa Barcelona 0.53% 15th Bastian Schweinsteiger Bayern Munich 0.50% 16th Xabi Alonso Real Madrid 0.48% 17th Sergio Agüero Atlético Madrid Manchester City 0.48% 18th Eric Abidal Barcelona 0.36% 19th Dani Alves Barcelona 0.34% 20th Karim Benzema Real Madrid 0.34% 21st Cesc Fàbregas Arsenal Barcelona 0.29% 22nd Nani Manchester United 0.26% 23rd Gerard Piqué Barcelona 0.22%
FIFA Women's World Player of the Year The top three nominees for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year were:
Rank Player National team Club(s) Percent 1st Homare Sawa INAC Kobe Leonessa 28.51% 2nd Marta Western New York Flash 17.28% 3rd Abby Wambach magicJack 13.26%
The following seven players also in contention for the award:
Rank Player Nationality Club(s) Percent 4th Aya Miyama Okayama Yunogo Belle 12.18% 5th Hope Solo magicJack 7.83% 6th Lotta Schelin Lyon 4.85% 7th Kerstin Garefrekes 1. FFC Frankfurt 4.73% 8th Alex Morgan Western New York Flash 4.34% 9th Louisa Nécib Lyon 3.21% 10th Sonia Bompastor Lyon 2.99%
FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men's Football Rank Coach Nationality Team(s) Percent 1st Pep Guardiola Barcelona 41.90% 2nd Sir Alex Ferguson Manchester United 15.59% 3rd José Mourinho Real Madrid 12.43%
Rank Coach Nationality Team(s) Votes 4th Vicente del Bosque 9.12% 5th Óscar Tabárez 7.47% 6th Joachim Löw 4.40% 7th André Villas-Boas Porto Chelsea 4.16% 8th Arsène Wenger Arsenal 1.91% 9th Jürgen Klopp Borussia Dortmund 1.54% 10th Rudi Garcia Lille 0.89%
FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women's Football
Rank Coach Nationality Team(s) Percent 1st Norio Sasaki 45.57% 2nd Pia Sundhage 15.83% 3rd Bruno Bini 10.28%
FIFA/FIFPro World XI
Position Player National team Club(s) GK Iker Casillas Real Madrid DF Dani Alves Barcelona DF Gerard Piqué Barcelona DF Sergio Ramos Real Madrid DF Nemanja Vidić Manchester United MF Xabi Alonso Real Madrid MF Andrés Iniesta Barcelona MF Xavi Barcelona FW Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid FW Lionel Messi Barcelona FW Wayne Rooney Manchester United
FIFA Puskás Award Rank Player Nationality Team Percent 1st Neymar Santos 2nd Wayne Rooney Manchester United 3rd Lionel Messi Barcelona
FIFA Presidential Award Sir Alex Ferguson
FIFA Fair Play Award Japan Football Association
Controversy The day after the awards ceremony, Spanish newspaper Marca reported that none of the four captains of the Spanish women's national team had voted for the Women's World Player of the Year award.The Ballon d'Or's ghost vote. Marca According to the list of votes published by FIFA, captain Sandra Vilanova had awarded five points to Hope Solo, three to Louisa Nécib and one to Marta.List of votes in FIFA's website
References
External links France Football Official Ballon d'Or page 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or at "FIFA.com"