A Dutch Journalist May Have Leaked The Ballon d'Or Results, And The Winner Will Surprise...Nobody

Dutch journalist Michel Abbink has apparently got ahold of the results for the 2015 Ballon d'Or award, given to the best player in the world, and the reported winner will surprise approximately nobody: Lionel Messi.

This would be Messi's fourth Ballon d'Or win in the six years the award in its current form has been given out. Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo are also finalists.

Abbink tweeted a photo that shows Messi as the male Ballon d'Or winner, and German Celia Sasic as the female winner.

Oei, dit stond zojuist op de website van de FIFA. MESSI GOUDEN BAL-WINNAAR pic.twitter.com/sq1pSheaVB

— Michel Abbink (@sportzeloot) January 6, 2016

Sasic's supposed win will no doubt irk USWNT fans, as World Cup final hat-trick hero and World Cup Golden Ball winner Carli Lloyd is also nominated for the award.

FIFA later issued a denial of the story via Twitter.

This afternoon, a story 1st posted online in November (false then too) has resurfaced. The winners of the #BallondOr have NOT been leaked.

— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) January 6, 2016

November's story (also falsely attributed to FIFA's website) was taken from ESM's website: https://t.co/kRElfD4x48 pic.twitter.com/GjSPX8LDPz

— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) January 6, 2016

It's hard to say what's really going on. It's entirely possible the story is a fake, but Abbink is a fairly responsible journalist and FIFA are sorely lacking in the credibility department at the moment. 

In any case, we'll see on Jan. 11.

(H/T 101 Great Goals)

Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus