FIFA Player of the Century
FIFA Player of the Century was a one-off award created by FIFA to decide the greatest football player of the 20th century, announced at the annual FIFA World gala, held in Rome on 11 December 2000.[1] Diego Maradona and Pelé were joint winners of the award.[2][3] Maradona won the award based on the Internet poll, while Pelé won the award based on votes from FIFA officials, journalists and coaches.[2][3]

Background
Since 1991, FIFA have had awards for FIFA World Player of the Year and they decided to bring in the new millennium by conducting a public vote to decide the FIFA Player of the Century. This was to be decided by votes on their official website, their official magazine and a grand jury. Maradona won the Internet-based poll by wide margins, garnering 53.6% of the votes against 18.53% for Pelé.[4] Despite the fact that Eusébio, who played football professionally during Pelé's era, placed third in the poll, many observers complained that the Internet nature of the poll would have meant a skewed demographic of younger fans who would have seen Maradona play, but not Pelé. As a result, FIFA decided to add a second poll and appointed a "Football Family" committee composed of football journalists, officials and coaches, who voted Pelé the best player of the century with 72.75% of the vote, thus both were joint winners of the award.[5]
FIFA internet vote
The results of FIFA's internet Poll were as follows:[6]
Player | Nationality | Percentage | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Diego Maradona | ![]() | 53.6% |
2 | Pelé | ![]() | 18.53% |
3 | Eusébio | ![]() | 6.21% |
4 | Roberto Baggio | ![]() | 5.42% |
5 | Romário | ![]() | 1.69% |
6 | Marco van Basten | ![]() | 1.57% |
7 | Ronaldo | ![]() | 1.55% |
8 | Franz Beckenbauer | ![]() | 1.50% |
9 | Zinedine Zidane | ![]() | 1.34% |
10 | Rivaldo | ![]() | 1.19% |
11 | Zico | ![]() | 1.15% |
12 | Garrincha | ![]() | 1.08% |
13 | Johan Cruyff | ![]() | 0.87% |
14 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | ![]() | 0.68% |
15 | Michel Platini | ![]() | 0.58% |
16 | Bobby Charlton | ![]() | 0.39% |
17 | Ferenc Puskás | ![]() | 0.37% |
18 | Lothar Matthäus | ![]() | 0.37% |
19 | Lev Yashin | ![]() | 0.36% |
20 | George Best | ![]() | 0.32% |
FIFA Magazine and Grand Jury vote
This part of the award was decided by the FIFA Magazine readers vote and the FIFA Grand Jury.[6]
Player | Nationality | Percentage | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Pelé | ![]() |
72.75% |
2 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | ![]() |
9.75% |
3 | Diego Maradona | ![]() |
6.0% |
4 | Franz Beckenbauer | ![]() |
2.5% |
5 | Johan Cruyff | ![]() |
2.0% |
George Best | ![]() |
2.0% | |
7 | Michel Platini | ![]() |
1.0% |
Garrincha | ![]() |
1.0% | |
Zico | ![]() |
1.0% | |
Gerd Müller | ![]() |
1.0% | |
Roberto Baggio | ![]() |
1.0% | |
References
- "Three candidates for FIFA World Player Award: Figo, Rivaldo and Jake Leigh". FIFA.com. FIFA. 7 December 2000. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- Pele, Maradona split player of 20th century award. CBC News. Retrieved 13 March 2013
- FIFA Player of the Century Archived 26 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. touri.com
- "Maradona's genius cannot eclipse English master". telegraph.co.uk. The Daily Telegraph. 12 December 2000. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- "Pele, Maradona each win FIFA century awards after feud". CNN.
- "FIFA Player of the Century" (PDF). touri.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2010.