This year 38,000 professional footballers belonging to the 40 professional organisations across the world that form FIFPro, received voting forms in a secret ballot to nominate their peers for inclusion in their 'World XI'.
The awards ceremony next month - which includes live music from major acts - will be broadcast to a global audience of more than 150 million viewers.
The TV show will be produced by Celador Music & Events (a subsidiary of Celador International), whose credits include 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' It follows an agreement in October 2004 with RAM Investment Group PLC to acquire the production rights to the event.
Guy Freeman, managing director of Celador Music and Events, said: “The world’s greatest footballers and music artists will be sharing the same spectacular stage for the first time in what we believe will become one of the most highly anticipated global events in the annual awards calendar.”
England's Premier League attracted the most nominees with 19, followed by Italy’s Serie A with 18, Spain’s La Liga with 13, the Bundesliga in Germany with three and just two from the Dutch League.
