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TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY RACHEL K ROGERS
A view of the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2012 (‘Golden ball’) and three plaques reading, «Cristiano Ronaldo», «Lionel Messi» and «Andres Iniesta», at the Mellerio jewelery workshops in Paris, on December 11, 2012. Founded in 1613, the French jewelery house Mellerio is the oldest family-owned company in Europe and has been making the «Ballon d’Or» since 1956. Dubbed the Oscars of the football world, the FIFA Ballon d’Or was born in 2010 of the merger of two prizes: the Ballon d’Or, awarded since 1956 by French sports journalists, and FIFA’s World Player trophy, picked since 1991 by coaches and national team captains. The prize, to be awarded on January 7 to one of three shortlisted players: Lionel Messi of Argentina, Spain’s Andres Iniesta, and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, follows a simple design, but the process still starts almost a year in advance. AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL MEDINA