FIFA have announced the names of the 23 nominees for the Best Player of 2016 award, which will presented at a gala event in January.
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Initially, a list of 20 players was submitted which did not include Luis Suarez, Alexis Sanchez or Jamie Vardy – their names not appearing until 27 minutes after the voting opened.
The award will be determined through combining the voting of captains and coaches from around the world, with the other 50 percent coming from the online ballot.
Voting closes on November 22 and the full list of candidates is as follows:
Aguero, Bale, Buffon, Ronaldo, De Bruyne, Griezmann, Ibrahimovic, Iniesta, Kante, Kroos, Lewandowski, Mahrez, Messi, Modric, Neuer, Neymar, Ozil, Payet, Pogba, Ramos, Sanchez, Suarez, Vardy.
