Ballon d'Or changes announced in attempt to loosen Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo stranglehold

It will revert back to two awards - the Ballon d'Or and the Fifa World Player of the Year

Lionel Messi will be the last winner of the Fifa Ballon d'Or (Getty Images)

The Ballon d’Or award will change format this year after France Football magazine ended its six-year association with Fifa.

The magazine’s Ballon d’Or award combined with Fifa’s World Player of the Year award in 2010 to become the Fifa Ballon d’Or in a deal worth £13m.

However, they will now revert back to two separate stand-alone awards.

Since the merger, only Lionel Messi (four times) and Cristiano Ronaldo (twice) have picked up the award, meaning the pair will be the only winners of the Fifa Ballon d’Or.

It is believed the move will give players other than Messi and Ronaldo a chance to win the award, with the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale having particularly impressive years.

Before the partnership with Fifa, the Ballon d’Or was awarded to the best European player from 1956 to 1994 and the best player to play for a European club between 1995 and 2009.

There will also be a change in the voting, with international coaches and captains no longer allowed to vote, leaving the decision to a select group of international journalists.

France Football also confirmed the shortlist would grow from 23 to 30 names and they would no longer announce the three finalists prior to the presentation of the award – meaning there will be no more awkward congratulations on stage between Ronaldo and Messi.

David Beckham came second behind Luis Figo in the 2001 Fifa World Player of the Year (Getty Images)

The winner will be announced before the end of 2016, rather than at an awards ceremony in January as has been the case for the last six years.

It was reported that new Fifa president Gianni Infantino was keen to revert back to the two annual awards, but no announcement has yet been made on the World Player of the Year award.

The World Player of the Year award was introduced in 1991 to honour players from all around the world rather than just those based in Europe, although no player representing a non-European club has ever finishing the top three.