FIFA threatens sanctions over voting process in annual awards ceremony

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association(FIFA) threatened some of the national federations over the possible sanctions on the voting process in the yearly FIFA awards ceremony after questions were raised by media over the poll's honesty. The governing body of Football has called the reports against polling unfair and misleading. This year's award ceremony, which took place on September 23, gave several awards to one of the best footballers and coaches in the world. 

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FIFA's official statement

There were questions raised after the annual ceremony at Teatro alla Scala in Milon over the reliability of the polls that were conducted to choose the players. FIFA released a statement that called these reports incorrect and giving the wrong impression. "These reports are unfair and misleading. The voting procedure for each of the awards is supervised and monitored by an independent observer, in this case, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Switzerland. FIFA requested all member associations to submit their voting forms both electronically and in writing. The written documents must also be signed by the responsible persons of the association as well as by the persons authorised to vote. Therefore, in order for a vote to be valid, it must include the respective signatures and the member association's stamp," FIFA said in an official statement. It further added, "Consequently, there is no doubt whatsoever as to the authenticity of the result. Should there have been any case of wrong-doing, and even if this did not affect the result of the vote, FIFA will investigate and apply sanctions where necessary.

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Fans all over the world voted

The winners were decided by a jury of international football coaches consisting of coaches and captains of all men's teams, a specialised journalist from each region and online voting by fans across the world. There were theories made by foreign media over the votes cast by the Egyptian coach Shawky Gharib and captain Ahmed Elmohamady for the best men's player. It said that the votes by them were not counted since they were signed in caps which come under FIFA's breach of voting rules. The Argentina football sensation Lionel Messi won the Best FIFA Men's Player of the year for the 6th time. America's Megan Rapinoe won the Best FIFA Women's Player at the award ceremony.

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(With inputs from ANI)