- FIFA 100
The FIFA 100 is a list of the world-renowned Brazilian striker
Pelé 's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled onMarch 4 ,2004 at a gala ceremony in London, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international governing body of football.The figure 100 refers to the 100th anniversary of FIFA and not the number of players listed, which is actually 125; Pelé had been asked to select 50 active players and 50 retired players, for a total of 100 players, but found it too difficult to limit the number of former players to just 50. [cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/3533833.stm
title=Fifa names greatest list
publisher=BBC
date=2004-03-04
accessdate = 2007-04-30] The list contains 123 professional men and 2 women players. At the time the FIFA 100 was selected, 50 of the players were still active, with the remaining 75 retired from the game. __NOTOC__Criticism
Some football observers have questioned the selection methodology of the list.
David Mellor , former politician turned football pundit, wrote in his column in the "Evening Standard ", that he felt the selections were politically motivated rather than made on purely footballing grounds. [cite news
first = David
last = Mellor
title = Sing up for Ken, a true Blues man
url =
format =
work = Evening Standard
publisher = Associated Newspapers Ltd.
page = 77
date =2004-03-05
accessdate = 2007-01-05] He suggested that the selections looked as if they came from the pen ofSepp Blatter rather than Pelé. As evidence for this, Mellor noted the wide geographical spread of the selected players: a true selection would be more heavily biased to South America and Europe, he claimed. (The list contains the names of 7 players from Asia and Africa, for example.) Such assertions were also forwarded byBBC columnist Tim Vickery. [cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_football/3542075.stm
title=Pele pays price for popularity
publisher=BBC
first=Tim
last=Vickery
date=2004-03-08
accessdate = 2007-04-30]One of Pelé's old team-mates, the former Brazil midfielder
Gérson , reacted to his omission from the FIFA 100 by tearing up a copy of the list on a Brazilian television programme.cite news
url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/sport/2004/03/05/sfnpel05.xml&site=2
title=Pele open to ridicule over top hundred
publisher=The Daily Telegraph
first=Christopher
last=Davies
date=2004-03-04
accessdate=2008-02-10]Marco van Basten andUwe Seeler refused to take part in the project on a point of principle. [cite news
url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/sport/2004/03/05/sfnpel05.xml&site=2
title=Pele open to ridicule over top hundred
publisher=Daily Telegraph
first=Christopher
last=Davies
date=2004-03-04
accessdate=2007-04-30]List
Following is the list of the "FIFA 100" greatest living footballers as nominated by Pelé.
*Players active at the time of announcement are marked by (*).
*Players who are still active as of the end of the 2008 season are in "italics".fb|BRA
fb|CHI
fb|CZE
fb|FRA
fb|HUN
fb|JPN
fb|MEX
fb|NIR
fb|POL
fb|RUS
fb|ESP
fb|URU
fb|USA
ee also
*
FIFA World Rankings
*World soccer players of the 20th century
*FIFA Women's World Rankings
*Placar Magazine 100 of world cupsReferences
External links
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/3533891.stm The FIFA 100]
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