Fifa prove no-one bends it like Blatter

For a few minutes on Tuesday evening, it seemed that all Cristiano Ronaldo’s efforts against Sweden were in vain.

Sure, his majestic hat-trick was sending Portugal to next summer’s World Cup finals, but with this year’s Ballon d’Or voting already closed, had he left things too late? Fifa’s deadline for national team coaches and captains, and participating journalists, to submit their choices was last Friday, November 15. With the votes already in, Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery was clear favourite to take the 2013 prize.

But then, somewhere between Ronaldo’s third goal and the final whistle at the Friends Stadium in Solna, it emerged that Fifa would accept votes up until November 29. Choices already submitted could also be changed to take into account recent performances such as say, one which single-handedly dragged your country to the World Cup.