I take it you people are talking about the Fifa World Player Award. Let me give you my opinion about it : it's as big of a farce as Rivaldo's right foot.
First off, this Award, unlike the Golden Ball which was created in the mid 50's and whose list of previous winners includes names like Di Stefano, Cruyff or Beckenbauer, has no history at all (it has been created in the mid-90's). Secondly, the main purpose it serves is securing Blatter Mauritania or Singapore's votes in the next election by luring their federations into believing that they have a say in Football Affairs since they can vote their favourite player of the year. Thirdly, the result of the votes often rouses some doubts as regards the knowledge that the federations have about the beautiful game : indeed, how do you explain North Korea's coach listing Rivaldo (???), Morientes and some unknown North Korean player in his top three?
This is why I say that the Golden Ball is the only individiual award that has a prestige, as the winner is chosen by Europe's most credited (and less biased than the national federations) journalists in a list of 50 players submitted to them by the french magazine France Football.