FIFA Player of the Century - wikipedia FIFA Player of the Century This article is about FIFA Player of the Century. For FIFA Female Player of the Century, see FIFA Female Player of the Century. Five years after the award, winners Maradona and Pelé exchanged national team shirts. 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. Diego Maradona and Pelé were joint winners of the award. Maradona won the award based on the Internet poll, while Pelé won the award based on votes from FIFA officials, journalists and coaches. Contents 1 Background 1.1 FIFA internet vote 1.2 FIFA Magazine and Grand Jury vote 1.3 FIFA Centennial Award 1.4 IFFHS 2 References 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. 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. FIFA internet vote The results of FIFA 's internet Poll were as follows : Player Nationality Percentage Diego Maradona Argentina 53.6 % Pelé Brazil 18.53 % Eusébio Portugal 6.21 % Roberto Baggio Italy 5.42 % 5 Romário Brazil 1.69 % 6 Marco van Basten Netherlands 1.57 % 7 Ronaldo Brazil 1.55 % 8 Franz Beckenbauer Germany 1.50 % 9 Zinedine Zidane France 1.34 % 10 Rivaldo Brazil 1.19 % 11 Zico Brazil 1.15 % 12 Garrincha Brazil 1.08 % 13 Johan Cruyff Netherlands 0.87 % 14 Alfredo Di Stéfano Argentina 0.68 % 15 Michel Platini France 0.58 % 16 Bobby Charlton England 0.39 % 17 Ferenc Puskás Hungary 0.37 % 18 Lothar Matthäus Germany 0.37 % 19 Lev Yashin Soviet Union 0.36 % 20 George Best Northern Ireland 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. Player Nationality Percentage Pelé Brazil 72.75 % Alfredo Di Stéfano Argentina 9.75 % Diego Maradona Argentina 6.0 % Franz Beckenbauer Germany 2.5 % 5 Johan Cruyff Netherlands 2.0 % George Best Northern Ireland 2.0 % 7 Michel Platini France 1.0 % Garrincha Brazil 1.0 % Zico Brazil 1.0 % Gerd Müller Germany 1.0 % Roberto Baggio Italy 1.0 % FIFA Centennial Award FIFA Centennial Player and Football Personality. Winner Nationality Franz Beckenbauer Germany Pelé Brazil Iffhs IFFHS gave out an award decided by votes which was conducted with the participation of journalists and former players ( no further details given ). Player Nationality Votes Pelé Brazil 1705 Johan Cruyff Netherlands 1303 Franz Beckenbauer Germany 1228 Alfredo Di Stéfano Argentina 1215 5 Diego Maradona Argentina 1214 6 Ferenc Puskás Hungary 810 7 Michel Platini France 722 8 Garrincha Brazil 624 9 Eusébio Portugal 544 10 Bobby Charlton England 508 References Jump up ^ `` Three candidates for FIFA World Player Award : Figo, Rivaldo and Zidane ''. FIFA.com. FIFA. 7 December 2000. Retrieved 11 May 2017. ^ Jump up to : Pele, Maradona split player of 20th century award. CBC News. Retrieved 13 March 2013 ^ Jump up to : FIFA Player of the Century. touri.com Jump up ^ `` Maradona 's genius can not eclipse English master ''. telegraph.co.uk. The Daily Telegraph. 12 December 2000. Retrieved 11 May 2017. Jump up ^ `` Pele, Maradona each win FIFA century awards after feud ''. CNN. ^ Jump up to : `` FIFA Player of the Century '' ( PDF ). touri.com. Retrieved 30 November 2010. Jump up ^ `` Celebrations mark the opening of FIFA Centennial Congress in Paris, FIFA 's birthplace ''. FIFA.com. Retrieved 9 April 2013 Jump up ^ `` World - Player of the Century ''. RSSSF.com. 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Question: who has received the player of the century award
Answer: Diego Maradona