Guardiola and Bayern stars to miss Ballon d'Or awards

Coach of the Year nominee Pep Guardiola and his Bayern Munich side will not be attending Monday's prestigious Ballon d'Or awards ceremony as they are away on a mid-season training break.

Guardiola, who steered Bayern to the Bundesliga title last season, is on a shortlist of three alongside Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli and favourite for the award Luis Enrique, who won a Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League treble with Barcelona in 2014-15.

However, Bayern are not due to return to Munich from a training camp in Qatar until Tuesday, meaning Guardiola and his squad are unable to attend in Zurich.

Bayern legend Paul Breitner, now a club ambassador, will attend on the club's behalf.

A FIFA statement read: "It is of course a pity that the Coach of the Year nominee Pep Guardiola and the other FC Bayern Munich nominees for the FIFA/FIFPro World XI will not be able to attend this year's FIFA Ballon d'Or in Zurich in person.

"But as the world governing body of football, FIFA understands that for sporting reasons, the club's winter break training camp must take priority."