UEFA
UEFA has announced the names of the three nominees for the 2016/17 UEFA Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year Awards. The accolades will be presented at the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League group stage draw ceremony, which will take place on Thursday 24 August in Monaco.
Regarding the men’s award, the shortlist of three players was selected by a jury composed of 80 coaches of the clubs which participated in the group stage of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, representing each of UEFA’s member associations.
The final result was based on the total number of votes cast by the coaches and the journalists. The coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
The three players who received the most points overall following the conclusion of the voting, in alphabetical order, are:
• Gianluigi Buffon (ITA – Juventus FC)
• Lionel Messi (ARG – FC Barcelona)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (POR – Real Madrid CF)
For the women’s award, the shortlist of three players was selected by a jury composed of 16 coaches of the teams which participated in the recent UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 in the Netherlands, together with 8 coaches of the clubs which participated in the quarter-finals of the 2016/17 UEFA Women’s Champions League. Twenty journalists specialised in women’s football and selected by the ESM group are also part of the jury.
Similarly to the men’s accolade, the final result was based on the total number of votes cast by the coaches and the journalists. The coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
The three players who received the most points overall from this voting, in alphabetical order, are:
• Pernille Harder (DEN – VfL Wolfsburg and Linköpings FC)
• Dzsenifer Marozsán (GER – Olympique Lyonnais)
• Lieke Martens (NED – FC Rosengård, now at FC Barcelona)
The UEFA Player of the Year awards complement the four new positional UEFA Champions League awards, which will crown the best Goalkeeper, Defender, Midfielder and Forward of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season and will also be presented during the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League group stage draw on Thursday 24 August in Monaco.