The 2000 FIFA Club World Championship, held in Brazil, consisted of eight qualifiers: the six continental champions, the 1998 Intercontinental Champions and the host nation champions. The tournament was controversial, most notably in England where Manchester United had to withdraw from a national cup competition, the FA Cup, in order to compete. The launch of the competition was understood by some to be part of a struggle between FIFA and UEFA, who were competing for control of international club football: the existing Intercontinental Cup was outside of FIFA's jurisdiction.[1] The final was competed between the two Brazilian sides and the winner was Corinthians in a penalty shoot-out over Clube de Regatas Vasco da Gama.[2]
The competition was then renamed as FIFA Club World Cup[3] for the 2006 event, which was held annually in Japan until 2008. The United Arab Emirates hosted the event in 2009 and 2010. For the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup, a play-off match between the OFC champions and the host-nation champions for entry into the quarter-final stage was introduced in order to increase home interest in the tournament. The reintroduction of the match for fifth place for the 2008 competition also prompted an increase in prize money by US$500,000 to a total of US$16.5 million. The winners took away $5 million, second-placed team received $4 million, the third-placed team $2.5 million, the fourth-placed team $2 million, the fifth-placed team $1.5 million, the sixth-placed team $1 million and the seventh-placed team received $500,000.[4]
The Golden Ball award is presented to the best player at each FIFA World Cup finals, with a shortlist drawn up by the FIFA technical committee and the winner voted for by representatives of the media. Those who finish as runners-up in the vote receive the Silver Ball and Bronze Ball awards as the second and third most outstanding players in the tournament respectively.
The Golden Glove Award is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Before 2010, the award was named the Yashin Award in honour of the late goalkeeper Lev Yashin (USSR). The FIFA Technical Study Group recognizes the top goalkeeper of the tournament based on the player’s performance throughout the final competition. Although goalkeepers have this specific award for their position, they are still eligible for the Golden Ball as well, as when Oliver Kahn was awarded in 2002. Although the Golden Glove Award was first awarded in 1994, every All-Star Team in World Cups prior to 1998 included only one goalkeeper.
