Did Fifa leak 2015 Ballon D’Or winner already?

JOHANNESBURG.

Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo are nominated for this year’s Ballon d’Or, and Fifa appear to have accidentally leaked the winner on their official website.

The official ceremony will be held in a few days’ time, and all eyes will be on Zurich, Switzerland, on Monday, January 11.
However, according to reports, football’s world governing body momentarily put the men’s and women’s winners’ names on their official website on Wednesday. Messi, who is the strong favourite for this year’s accolade, and female German footballer Celia Sasic, who retired in July, were found at the top of the winners list on Fifa’s website, before their names were swiftly removed.

Superstars
The FC Barcelona superstar helped his side to five titles in 2015, scoring 48 goals and assisting a further 23 for his club.
Ronaldo, who has won the previous two editions of the Ballon d’Or, scored 52 goals and assisted a further 18 for Real Madrid, but ended up without any team silverware in 2015.

Neymar finds himself on the podium for the first time after scoring 41 goals and assisting 14 strikes for his Blaugrana teammates.
Sasic, meanwhile, won the 2015 Women’s World Cup with Germany and was the top goalscorer for her club, Frankfurt, who won the Champions League.

There has been no official comment by Fifa on the leaked winners, and it remains to be seen if Messi and Sasic are, in fact, crowned World Players of the Year.