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Favoured Messi on short list for best footballer

Barcelona pair Lionel Messi and Neymar were on Monday named on the shortlist for Zurich-based Fifa's prestigious Ballon d'Or trophy for world's best footballer, along with double reigning title holder, Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid.

Favoured Messi on short list for best footballer
Lionel Messi, who has won the Ballon d'Or four times, is favoured to win it again. Photo: AFP/File

While Portuguese Ronaldo has triumphed over the last two seasons (in a total of three wins), Argentinian Messi has previously claimed the coveted award four times, and Brazilian Neymar makes the shortlist for Fifa's player of the year award for the first time.
   
Messi was the catalyst for Barcelona's impressive run to three titles last season (the Champions League, La Liga and the Spanish Cup) and will be the standout favourite ahead of Ronaldo.
   
The Portugal international might have finished the season without a trophy, but his individual talent shone out as he was La Liga's highest scorer with 48 goals, and has notched up a leading seven in the Champions League this term.
   
World Cup-winning captain Carli Lloyd (USA/Houston Dash), Aya Miyama (Japan/Okayama Yunogo Belle), and Celia Sasic (Germany/1. FFC Frankfurt) are in the running for the Fifa Women's World Player of the Year award.
   
Two Spanish coaches, Bayern Munich's Pep Guardiola and Barcelona's Luis Enrique made the shortlist of the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men's Football award alongside Jorge Sampaoli, the Argentinian coach who led Chile to Copa America victory.
   
And Jill Ellis (USA/USA national team), Mark Sampson (Wales/English national team) and Norio Sasaki (Japan/Japanese national team) are the final trio to battle it out for the Fifa World Coach of the Year for Women's Football award.
   
All of the awards will be presented at the FIFA Ballon d'Or award ceremony in Zurich on January 11th 2016.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

https://twitter.com/GravesenFumado/status/1764242481984491822

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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