On Friday, the FIFA General Secretary Jérôme Valcke and adidas Group CEO Herbert Hainer officially announced the 10 nominees for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ adidas Golden Ball.

This is the official FIFA trophy for the “Best Player of the Tournament”. The 10 nominated players were selected by the FIFA Technical Study Group and includes football experts Kalusha Bwalya, Christian Karembeu, Jomo Sono and Gérard Houllier.

Nominees for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ adidas Golden Ball trophy are:

• Andres Iniesta (ESP, 6)
• Arjen Robben (NED, 11)
• Asamoah Gyan (GHA, 3)
• Bastian Schweinsteiger (GER, 7)
• David Villa (ESP, 7)
• Diego Forlan (URU, shirt #10)
• Lionel Messi (ARG, 10)
• Mesut Oezil (GER, 8)
• Wesley Sneijder (NED, 10)
• Xavi (ESP, 8)

Accredited media representatives will vote to determine the winners of the adidas Golden, Silver and Bronze ball awards on FIFA.com. The winners will be announced after the final on 11 July.

FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG)
The FIFA Technical Study Group is headed up by Jean-Paul Brigger . Further prominent members of the TSG are Christian Karembeu, Humberto Grondona, Gérard Houllier, Holger Osieck, Leodegar Tenga, Gabriel Calderon, Alvin Corneal, Kwok Ka-Ming, Kalusha Bwalya, Ephraim Matsilele ‘Jomo’ Sono and Jim Selby.

adidas Golden Ball past winners:
1982 FIFA World Cup™ Spain: Paolo Rossi (Italy)
1986 FIFA World Cup™ Mexico: Diego Maradona (Argentina)
1990 FIFA World Cup™ Italy: Salvatore Schillaci (Italy)
1994 FIFA World Cup™ USA: Romario (Brazil)
1998 FIFA World Cup™ France: Ronaldo (Brazil
2002 FIFA World Cup™ Korea / Japan: Oliver Kahn (Germany)
2006 FIFA World Cup™ Germany: Zinedine Zidane (France)