It has been said that the winner is decided by 100 journalists each picking their top 10 players of the year. Is it possible that these journalists may be affected by some personal bias or patriotism? How objective is this award and is this deciding method really the best?
You cannot completely rule out bias when it comes to selection, especially when a voter takes personal liking to a contestant, they might vote based on emotions rather skills. If the100 journalist will vote based on their discretion, then you can't expect all of them to like the obvious best player. So I believe that the criteria for selection might not be centered only on skills, it can include character and charisma, so the best skilled player might not gain all the journalist's favors. We'll have to accept what the journalists agrees on, they're the professionals, even though their choices might not be perfect.