UEFA will create the equivalent of the Ballon d'Or award for European players which it will start giving out next season, the president of the European football governing body, Michel Platini, said in an interview published Wednesday. "UEFA will give a special prize to the best player in Europe, following the spirit of the former Ballon d'Or given by France Football which has now merged with the FIFA prize for best world player," he told Spanish sports daily Mundo Deportivo.
The prize will be awarded in August at an annual ceremony in Monoco on the same day as the draw to select the fixtures for the Champions League, the newspaper said. The prize jury will be made up of representatives from all the football federations that make up UEFA, sports journalists and coaches, it added. The Ballon d'Or, set up in 1956 by French sports magazine France Football, is decided by a poll of world football journalists.