LONDON: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar have been nominated as finalists for the Best FIFA Men’s Player award, the sport’s governing body announced on Friday.

Ronaldo, 32, is the overwhelming favourite to win the award, having led Real Madrid to the La Liga title and a third Champions League success in four years last season.

He won last year’s award after winning the Champions League with Madrid and the European Championship with Portugal.

Ronaldo previously won the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2008 and is a four-time winner of the Ballon d’Or.

While Ronaldo finished as the Champions League’s top scorer with 12 goals, Messi, 30, finished as La Liga’s top scorer with 37 goals last season.

Messi and Neymar collected only the Copa del Rey title with Barcelona.

Argentina great Messi, a record five-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, has made a superb start to the current campaign, scoring 12 goals in his first eight appearances in all competitions.

Ronaldo won the inaugural Best FIFA Men’s Player Award last year after a six-year merger between the FIFA honour and the Ballon d’Or.

Brazil superstar Neymar, 25, left Barca to join Paris St Germain in a blockbuster 222 million euros ($266 million) move that smashed the world transfer record.

Off the field, the three players have all been embroiled in tax cases in Spain over the last year.

Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon was shortlisted for the Best FIFA Goalkeeper award after leading the Italian club to a sixth successive Serie A title, a third-straight Italian Cup success and a runner-up finish in the Champions League.

He was joined by Real Madrid shot-stopper Keylor Navas and Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer.

Carli Lloyd is in contention to sweep a hat trick of women’s player awards. The American midfielder is being challenged by Lieke Martens, whose goals powered the Netherlands to the Euro 2017 title, and 18-year-old Venezuelan striker Deyna Castellanos, who won the South American Under-17 Championship.

In the coach of the year categories, most are being recognised for their achievements at club level. The nominees for the men’s prize are Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, Chelsea’s Antonio Conte and Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri.

The women’s coaching contenders are Nils Nielsen (Denmark), Gerard Precheur (Lyon) and Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands).

The winner of the 2017 awards will be announced during a ceremony at the London Palladium on October 23.

The voting for the award, equally weighted between national team captains, national team coaches, media and fans, closed earlier this month.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2017