| 2003 Ballon d'Or | |
|---|---|
 2003 Ballon d'Or winner Pavel Nedvěd | |
| Date | 22 December 2003 |
| Presented by | France Football |
| Highlights | |
| Won by |  Pavel Nedvěd (1st award) |
| Website | francefootball.fr/ballon-d-or |
The2003 Ballon d'Or, given to the bestfootball player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists fromUEFA member countries, was awarded to theCzechmidfielderPavel Nedvěd on 22 December 2003.[1] On 11 November 2003, the shortlist of 50 male players compiled by a group of experts fromFrance Football was announced.[2][3][4] There were 52 voters, from Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and 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, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales andYugoslavia. Each picked a first (5pts), second (4pts), third (3pts), fourth (2pts) and fifth choice (1pt).[5]
Nedvěd was the second Czech player to win the award afterJosef Masopust (1962).[1]Gianluigi Buffon (Italy) was the top ranked goalkeeper in the list, in ninth place.Paolo Maldini (Italy) was the best rankeddefender in third place, whileThierry Henry (France) was the topforward, in second place.[5]
The following 24 men were originally in contention for the 2003 Ballon d’Or, but did not receive any votes:
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| Ballon d'Or (1956–1994) (European only) |
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| Ballon d'Or (1995–2009) | |
| FIFA Ballon d'Or (2010–2015) | |
| Ballon d'Or (2016–present) | |
