FIFA awards at the end of the season rarely do without scandals. Almost every year, representatives of various federations declare that their votes were cast for one candidate, while they themselves made the choice in favor of another player. The 2019 ceremony of The Best was not an exception, at which Lionel Messi was declared the best player of the year. So, several respondents at once accused the international organization of rigging the voting results.
Initially, ten players claimed the honorary prize, but by September 3, their number was reduced to three. Among the main applicants for the award were Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dyck. At the same time, the Liverpool defender did not raise questions from the public. Last season, the Merseysiders won the Champions League, and the Dutchman became a stronghold of the defense team, forming a powerful duet with Joel Matip. In addition, the Netherlands team reached the final of the League of Nations.
As for the two forwards, if Messi was included in the final three nominees, it was difficult to argue, because he not only helped Barcelona win the Spanish Championship for the 26th time, but also became the top scorer on the continent. In 34 matches, the Argentinean scored 36 goals, rightfully getting the “Golden Boot”. At the same time, Ronaldo could not boast of such accuracy and rather inexpressibly spent his first season at Juventus. The impression of his performance did not greatly brighten up the success of the Portuguese national team in the League of Nations.
In the end, it was Messi who won, who was eight points ahead of his closest pursuer in the person of van Dyck, and Ronaldo - by 10. However, later reports began to arrive that serious violations were committed during the counting process.
The first to announce this was Nicaraguan captain Juan Barrera. In an interview with The Chiringuito, he admitted that he did not vote for the Argentine, despite the fact that in the official FIFA form his choice is as follows: Messi, Sadio Mane, Cristiano.
🚨🚨🚨 "YO NO VOTÉ A MESSI EN 'THE BEST'".
👉El capitán de la Selección de Nicaragua @juanbarreranica asegura que NO PARTICIPÓ en la elección pero aparece en la lista. (Vía 'La Prensa') pic.twitter.com/o3W5pUwOSE
Subsequently, the head coach of the Sudan team Zdravko Logarushich made similar claims. Judging by the official protocol, he also opted for Messi. However, the specialist himself declares that his choice is not true.
In an interview with Nairobi News, the Croat said he gave the first place to Salah, the second to his teammate Senegalese Sadio Mane, and the third to Frenchman Kilian Mbappe.
“I took a photo of my form after I endorsed it together with the Sudan Football Association. I don’t know what happened then, ”said Logarusic.
The position of the Sudan mentor was supported by the journalist of the portal FootballMadeInGhana.com Tofig Sienu, who on his Twitter published a form for voting of the coach. However, even users of the social network indicated to him that the screenshot has signs of editing.
Sudan coach Zdravko Logarušić says he voted for Egypt's @MoSalah in the #FIFABestAwards awards as well as @KMbappe but his vote was changed to Lionel Messi and Vigril Van Dijk, Logarušić took a screenshot of his vote before submitting it. @FIFAcom must speak! # FIFAFootballAwardspic.twitter.com / ds9dCIhpVL
- Sheikh Tophic Sienu (@ DeSheikh1) September 25, 2019The compatriots of Mohamed Salah did not stand aside. According to Tuttosport, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) sent an official letter to FIFA demanding to explain the lack of votes of their representatives in the final protocol.
FIFA's answer
As a result, the International Football Federation was forced to clarify the situation.
The first thing FIFA called into question was Barrera’s statement. The organization provided TASS with a photograph of the form of a Nicaraguan football player, from which it follows that he voted for Messi, as well as Manet and Ronaldo.
In addition, FIFA double-checked the documents provided by the Sudan Football Association.
“By comparing the voting lists submitted by the federation with those published on fifa.com, we can confirm that we got the right votes when choosing the best player and coach. We ask the Sudanese Football Association to study this issue, ”TASS quoted the message.
Regarding the EFA complaint, the main football organization in the world indicated that Egyptian football officials incorrectly filled out the form and ignored the deadline for correcting inaccuracies.
“The forms were signed in capital letters, which is why they were regarded as invalid. Also, the sheets did not have the signature of the Secretary General of the Federation, which is necessary to take into account the vote, ”the FIFA press service told the Associated Press.
Creamy scandal
At the same time, public discontent caused not only Messi's victory in the vote for the title of best player of the year, but also the composition of the national team of the best players.
The greatest controversy revolved around the presence on the list of three representatives of Real Madrid, who failed the past competitive year. Suffice it to recall that the royal club did not win a single European trophy, taking third place in the Spanish championship and flying out of the Champions League at the 1/8 final stage.
Nevertheless, among the 11 best were Sergio Ramos, Marcelo and Luca Modric, and the first was completely determined to be the right-back. The last time a Spaniard appeared in this position about ten years ago, in connection with which his mention as a football player of this role seems strange.
🏆 Our FIFA FIFPro World11 representatives show off their trophies at the Bernabéu!
🛡 @SergioRamos
🛡 @ MarceloM12
✨ @ lukamodric10
✨ @ hazardeden10 # HalaMadridpic.twitter.com / CTsTxNBQiN
As for the Brazilian and the Croat, they spent an extremely inexpressive season, and Marcelo did sit on the bench for the whole first half. His place in the starting lineup was occupied by a pupil of the club Sergio Regilon.
It is noteworthy that in the symbolic team there were only three representatives of the Premier League clubs, and this taking into account the fact that last season both finals of the European Cups were played in the opposition between the English teams (Tottenham Hotspur - Liverpool and Arsenal - Chelsea).
Only Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker (Liverpool) got the place, the same van Dyck and former Chelsea player Eden Hazard (currently playing for Real Madrid).
At the same time, neither the leaders of the Liverpool attack Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, nor the brilliant pair of extreme Merseyside defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson were noted.
In addition, there was not a single representative of Manchester City among the laureates who scored 98 points in the last year's draw of the England Championship and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.