2003 Ballon d'Or


The 2003 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries, was awarded to the Czech midfielder Pavel Nedvěd on 22 December 2003. On 11 November 2003, was announced the shortlist of 50 male players compiled by a group of experts from France Football. There were 52 voters, from Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales and Yugoslavia. Each picked a first, second, third, fourth and fifth choice.
Nedvěd was the second Czech player to win the award after Josef Masopust. Gianluigi Buffon was the top ranked goalkeeper in the list, at ninth place. Paolo Maldini was the best ranked defender in third place, while Thierry Henry was the top forward, at second place.

Rankings

Voted players

Non-voted players

The following 24 men were originally in contention for the 2003 Ballon d’Or, but did not receive any votes:
PlayerNationalityClub
Pablo Aimar Valencia
Sol Campbell Arsenal
Iker Casillas Real Madrid
Cristian Chivu Ajax / Roma
Samuel Eto'o Mallorca
Luís Figo Real Madrid
Giovane Élber Bayern Munich / Lyon
Ludovic Giuly Monaco
Oliver Kahn Bayern Munich
Patrick Kluivert Barcelona
Darko Kovačević Real Sociedad
Claude Makélélé Real Madrid / Chelsea
Michael Owen Liverpool
Pauleta Bordeaux / PSG
Robert Pires Arsenal
Míchel Salgado Real Madrid
Paul Scholes Manchester United
Lilian Thuram Juventus
Hatem Trabelsi Ajax
David Trezeguet Juventus
Patrick Vieira Arsenal
Christian Vieri Internazionale
Sylvain Wiltord Arsenal
Gianluca Zambrotta Juventus