Kaka is up against stiff competition for the prestigious award with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres and Lionel Messi also making the cut.

However, there is no place for Thierry Henry, who is not on the shortlist for the fist time since 1999, or former winners Fabio Cannavaro and Andriy Shevchenko.

Ronaldinho's exclusion is no surprise.

The Brazil star endured a difficult season at Barcelona last season before moving to Milan in the summer. There, he has been part of a Rossoneri team that made a stuttering start to the Serie A season.

Ronaldo is perhaps the favourite for the award after scoring 42 goals for Manchester United last season as they won the Premier League and Champions League double.

However, Brazil legend Pele told AS he expected Barcelona's Messi to put up a strong fight.

"If we could give it to several players I would give it to Torres, (Iker) Cassillas, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but last year when Kaka won it he took it ahead of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo so I really think that this year it will be between those two," he said.

Torres scored 24 goals in 33 Premier League appearances in his first season for Liverpool, and then helped Spain to Euro 2008 glory and could also be a strong contender.

"To win the Ballon d'Or would be like getting to the top of Everest," the striker told L'Equipe.

The Ballon d'Or is an award handed out to the world footballer of the year. It is voted for by journalists and organised by France Football magazine.

The shortlist this year has been reduced from 50 players to 30.

Shortlist: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg) Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Karim Benzema (Lyon), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Internazionale), Kaka (AC Milan), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Pepe (Real Madrid), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Rafael van der Vaart (Hambourg/Real Madrid), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), David Villa (Valencia), Xavi (Barcelona), Youri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow).