Olympic Newsdesk -- FIFA Football Honors; GM-NBC Partnership; 2012 Transport Scrutiny

Olympians Voted Best Footballers

(ATR) Two Olympians are the world’s best football players.

Argentinean striker Lionel Messi won the inaugural FIFA Ballon d’Or and Brazilian forward Marta won the women’s World Player of the Year award at a gala in Zurich on Monday night.

The awards are given to the best football players as voted by international coaches, players and journalists.

Messi won gold at the Beijing Olympics and Marta has silver medals from the Athens and Beijing Games.

Both have been crowned the world’s best footballers before. Marta has five straight titles, and Messi won the 2009 FIFA Men’s World Player of the Year Award, the last time it was awarded.

Marta dedicated her unprecedented fifth award to female footballers.

"It means a lot, especially for us because it’s harder for women," she said at the awards gala.

"The men earn a lot of money and they have a lot of clubs they can choose to play for. We work very hard but we’re always thinking about what might happen next year, if there’s going to be a team or a competition even. That’s what makes this an honor and a source of pride. This trophy isn’t just for me. It’s dedicated to women’s football as a whole."

Messi was shocked to win the title.

"I didn’t expect it because everyone had been talking so much about Xavi and Andres [Iniesta]" he said.

"They also deserved it for the wonderful year they had. They won the World Cup, which usually goes a long way to deciding who wins this award, and they both had big parts to play in that. That’s why I thought one of them would be going up to collect the trophy. It was a wonderful surprise."

Also Monday, Silvia Neid of Germany’s national team won women’s coach of the year. She managed the squad that won the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup as well as a bronze medal in Beijing.

GM and NBC Ink Exclusive Partnership for London Olympics

General Motors is the only U.S. carmaker that will screen ads during NBC’s coverage of London 2012.

A partnership announced Tuesday gives the industry giant exclusive domestic advertising rights for the automotive sector.Both the Chevrolet and Cadillac brands will have a major presence during the Games as well as exposure in Olympics-related NBC programming leading up to the Games.

"Media partnerships like this provide great opportunities for us to spread the word about our newest cars, trucks and crossovers," GM’s chief marketing officer Joel Ewanick said in a statement.

"GM has been a huge fan of the Olympic Games for decades, and we look forward to being a partner in a big way with NBC Universal as it again covers one of the world's most significant sporting events."

GM has advertised with NBC during every Olympics since Sydney 2000.

"Chevrolet and Cadillac are two of the world's premier automotive brands in the midst of a remarkable resurgence," said NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel, "so it's terrific to see them make a major investment in our coverage of the London Games."

More Questions for London 2012 on VIP Lanes

London 2012’s transport chiefs will be grilled about VIP lanes and other Games' traffic concerns on Wednesday.

The London Assembly will question them about the impact of Olympic works on transport plans as well as worries that the Olympic lanes could cause congestion and compromise pedestrian safety during the Games.

Among those appearing before the Assembly’stransport committee are LOCOG transport director Richard George and Hugh Sumner, the Olympic Delivery Authority’s director of transport.

The 10 a.m. meeting will be webcast here.

Media Watch

Design critic for London’s Guardian newspaper, Justin McGuirk, says Olympic logos aren’t as good as they once were.

John Powers attempts to handicap the 2018 race.

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Written by Matthew Grayson and Ed Hula III.