Ballon d’Or 2016: When is the winner announced? Is Cristiano Ronaldo set to be revealed as the year’s best player – here’s what we know
Everything you need to know about football's biggest individual prize
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THE BALLON D'OR is about to return to crown 2016's best footballer.
Cristiano Ronaldo is set to reclaim the award after losing out to Lionel Messi last year.
Here is everything you need to know about football's biggest individual prize...
When is the Ballon d'Or 2016 ceremony?
The winner will be announced on Monday, 12th December at around 8pm. The show starts from 5.30pm.
In recent years the Ballon d'Or has been held in Zurich, where FIFA are based.
However this year France Football magazine have decided to run the award independently of FIFA and the ceremony will be held in Paris.
Who has been nominated for the Ballon d'Or 2016?
30 players have been nominated for the prize, ranging from usual suspects Messi and Ronaldo to Leicester stars Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.
The likes of Man United's Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have also been nominated along with Man City's Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne.
Overseas, stars such as Antoine Griezmann, Luis Suarez and Robert Lewandowski have received nominations.
But Arsenal's Mesut Ozil has not been nominated even though boss Arsene Wenger congratulated him on receiving a nomination.
What are the latest odds on the Ballon d'Or 2016?
Cristiano Ronaldo is overwhelming favourite to win this year's Ballon d'Or after winning the Champions League and European Championship.
Punters will have to bet a significant amount on the Portugal captain to make any money as he is priced at 1/25 to win the gong.
Indeed a leaked edition of France Football magazine appears to show the Portugal captain will be announced the winner.
Current holder Lionel Messi comes in second with Sunbets odds of 5/1, followed by Antoine Griezmann at 7/1 and Luis Suarez at 8/1.
Jamie Vardy is available at 150/1, which means bookies think it is 33 times more likely he will win the Ballon d'Or than it was he would win the league at the start of last season.
How is the winner of the Ballon d'Or decided?
The Ballon d'Or winner will be decided by the votes of sports journalists from around the world.
This represents a return to tradition after the FIFA Ballon d'Or, which ran from 2010 to 2015, was decided by a combination of international journalists, captains and managers of national teams.
The previous system had thrown up some interesting talking points in the past.
For example, when voting on the 2014 prize, then-England manager chose Javier Mascherano while leaving eventual winner Cristiano Ronaldo and runner-up Lionel Messi out of his top three.
Who has won the most Ballon d'Or awards?
Current winner Lionel Messi also holds the most Ballon d'Or awards, with five.
Then comes Cristiano Ronaldo, who is tied with Dutch maestros Marco van Basten and Johan Cruyff on three.
But it is worth nothing that the award was only available to European players until 1995, meaning the likes of Pele and Diego Maradona never had the chance to equal Messi and Ronaldo.
Another fun fact is that Barcelona's Luis Suarez holds one Ballon d'Or, but not the Uruguayan one.
Spanish midfielder Suarez received the prize in 1960, while playing at the Nou Camp.
Where can I watch the ceremony on TV?
Despite Sky Sports and Eurosport covering the event previous years, the Ballon d'Or ceremony is not scheduled for live TV coverage in the UK.
FIFA TV used to stream the award live online but this will not be happening for the 2016 award as football's governing body no longer plays a part in it.
However there will be extensive coverage of the ceremony on our football page.
