Now 13 of these teams are considered inactive, meaning they haven't played football in 18 months but If you only took into account the votes from the top 25 FIFA ranked nations the voting would've seen Pernille Harder be crowned the winner despite not making the final three.

Kerr would jump to fourth while Marta would've finished 10th.

People know who Marta is, she is a global name because of her achievements over the past 18 years. It's kind of the same reason why Mo Salah won the Puskas Award and why Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi dominated the FIFA Best in previous years.

Now, I'm not saying that Kerr isn't popular but the reality is that there is a footballing world outside of Australia and the US who may not have witnessed her achievements.

Yes, people can watch her play in NWSL but that isn't a league which appeals to everyone, maybe because they don't have possible national team players in the league or it's just not on their radar so don't take notice. 

What about the W-League or Matildas? Well, outside of Australia, it's virtually impossible unless you have a VPN and access to Foxtel.

What about the access we have in Australia to leagues or national teams around the world? It's limited, to say the least. 

Sadly, I feel even if we make women's football more accessible, the majority of people would stay inside their footballing bubbles.

It's kind of like watching Eurovision where everyone votes in their blocs as seen from the information below.

If people don't watch each individual player or team then how do we expect the award to be won fairly? 

FIFA would need to change its voting system to ensure fairness across the board and while there may be a number of ways to do just that, I'll put my idea forward. 

  • Completely remove the fan vote 
  • Captains and coaches can't vote for players from their own nation
  • Only nations which have played games in the voting period can vote

Whether it is this idea or another, there is no denying that something needs to change with the FIFA Best Football Awards. 

Note: All voting information above only includes media, coach and player taken from FIFA.