Ballon d'Or will become the planet's most prestigious player of the year award from 2011.
Blatter also declares South African World Cup a success
Ballon d'Or will become the planet's most prestigious player of the year award from 2011 following an announcement that it is to merge with Fifa's world equivalent.
A deal has been reached that will see Europe's existing Ballon d'Or and Fifa's World Player of the Year award cease to exist as individual entities.
France Football publisher Marie-Odile Amaury and Fifa president Sepp Blatter have said that instead of separate prizes the honours will combine under the Ballon d'Or title which will be awarded every January from 2011.
France Football created its European Footballer of the Year award - the Ballon d'Or, or Golden Ball - in 1956 from a poll of international journalists, which was later opened to players of any nationality.
Fifa first presented its award in 1991 and it is voted for by national team coaches and captains.
Meanwhile, Blatter has claimed the World Cup in South Africa has already proved the doubters wrong.
Critics had predicted that fans would be deterred by high travel costs and the high crime rate in the country, while Fifa admitted earlier in 2010 that ticket sales had not gone as well as they had hoped.
Deranged world
Blatter said: "More than 500,000 fans will have come to South Africa and some are talking about the figure being even higher.
"The forecast from 'old Europe' was the fans wouldn't come - well here they are.
"I am a very happy president today and I hope I will be happy until the very end of this week."
Blatter said the fact that so many politicians had attended the tournament - including German chancellor Angela Merkel at the weekend - was an indication of the tournament's global influence.
He added: "There is a political dimension to football too - how many heads of states have come to visit South Africa, and they all want to make sure they have the pictures taken in the stands. That's the power of football.
"Football gives emotions in this deranged world. Look at the news and you see the world appears to have suddenly stopped and the TV cameras will after 12th July be used everywhere else in the world.
"We are giving hope to the world that perhaps through football we can become better human beings."
