Ballon d'Or 2013: Thiago Silva now has the opportunity to change his vote to Neymar, but will he take it?

Brazilian admitted he did not know he was allowed to vote for his compatriot

Thiago Silva and Neymar celebrates Brazil's Confederations Cup semi-final win over Uruguay (GETTY IMAGES)

The change to the voting procedure for the Fifa Ballon d’Or will not just please Cristiano Ronaldo.

Thiago Silva, the Brazil captain, now has the chance to change his vote after originally leaving out his international team-mate Neymar in his choice of three players.

The Paris Saint-Germain defender conceded on Tuesday that he did not know he was allowed to vote for his compatriot, so instead chose Lionel Messi, club team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“It was a pity that I could not vote for Brazilians,” the defender had said. “Neymar would be first and I would have put myself second.

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“Instead, I voted for Messi as first, second Ibra due to all the goals he has scored, and Cristiano Ronaldo in third; he did not win any titles in the last year.

“They are all great players and any one of them could be there as the winner.”

The 29-year-old now has the opportunity to revise his decision, after Fifa confirmed today that the voting period has been extended until 29 November, and changes can be made.

Silva will still have to watch out for rule 4.c however - "nominated captains and coaches are not permitted to vote for themselves".