What in the world is going on with FIFA? That’s all I can think after seeing the short list for the FIFA World Player of the Year award. The 30 player list is full of laughable omissions. But first, lets take a look at the list: Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Petr Cech, Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Samuel Eto’o, Gennaro Gattuso, Steven Gerrard, Thierry Henry, Juninho, Kaka, Miroslav Klose, Philipp Lahm, Frank Lampard, Rafael Marquez, Lionel Messi, Alessandro Nesta, Andrea Pirlo, Franck Ribery, Juan Roman Riquelme, Ronaldinho, Wayne Rooney, John Terry, Carlos Tevez, Lilian Thuram, Fernando Torres, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Patrick Vieira.
So who should have been nominated instead? The most startling omission might be Francesco Totti. The Roma captain not only led Serie A in scoring last season, he also won the European Golden Boot. If Totti is not considered one of the top 30 players in the world, how much credibility does this award lend itself?
Other notable players left off were Cesc Fabregas, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Luca Toni and David Villa. This trio could easily replace a number of jokes on the current list. As good as Cannavaro was during the 2006 World Cup, he was in poor form for Real Madrid last season and was not even the best defender on his team. Thierry Henry, while a fantastic player was injured for half of the season with Arsenal, so how can he merit a spot? Fellow Frenchmen Vieria, who missed much of last season injured, and Thuram were also questionable calls.
Even though Kaka seems to be the favorite for the award, FIFA did itself no favors with this list. When some of the best players in the world the past year have been left off, it makes one wonder if FIFA is paying attention to the games being played.
