Ballon d'Or ceremony date set

Paris - The winner of this year's Ballon d'Or will be announced at a ceremony in Zurich on January 11, 2016, FIFA announced on Wednesday.

Real Madrid and Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo won the award for football's world player of the year last year, but his old rival Lionel Messi will hope to wrestle the prize back after an outstanding year with Barcelona.

The ceremony will also see the winner of the women's world player of the year announced along with the prizes for the top coaches in men's and women's football and the winner of the Puskas award for the best goal of the year.