Rio De Janeiro,  Former Brazilian head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has criticised FIFA's decision to award Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro as World Player of the Year.

"He is not the best in the world and cannot be compared to players like Ronaldinho or Kaka," said Parreira Tuesday.

According to Parreira, currently in charge of the South African national team, the main reasons for the choice were the title won by Italy in the World Cup in Germany as well as other players' weak performances at the competition.

He added that if technical quality were the main criteria, there would be no room for competition with the Brazilian players.