As usual, the controversy did not disappear after the announcement of the "best" awards granted by the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) on Monday.
Although the choice of the Polish Robert Lewandowski for the award for the best player in the world did not meet with much opposition, given the superiority of the Bayern Munich striker over his competitors and his brilliance last year, other awards were widely contested.
Criticism focused on the perfect squad last year, which included Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, Real Madrid defender David Alaba, Juventus player Leonardo Bonucci, and Manchester City captain Ruben Diaz.
The midfield consisted of Manchester City player Kevin De Bruyne, Chelsea duo Jorginho and N'Golo Kante, while the attacking line consisted of Lewandowski and Paris Saint-Germain star Linol Messi and his Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo, along with Dortmund striker Erling Haaland.
Critics were surprised by this list, which was devoid of a number of prominent names, such as the Egyptian star Mohamed Salah, who came third in the ranking of the best award, along with Senegalese goalkeeper Edward Mendy, who was crowned the best goalkeeper in the world.
Ne pas mettre @Benzema dans le onze de l'année est un manque de respect au football mais on sait que le foot c'est le cadet des soucis de la FIFA et ça depuis un bon moment!
pic.twitter.com/OJnJmOzA2g
— Karim Djaziri (@KDjaziri) January 17, 2022
Karim Jaziri, the special advisor to Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, published a tweet criticizing the exclusion of the French striker from the ideal squad despite his outstanding performance with the Royal Club and the France national team.
Jaziri considered that Benzema's exclusion was a "disrespect for football," and added, "But we know that football is the last of FIFA's interests, and this has been the situation for a while."
Barcelona Paradoxes
On the other hand, followers were surprised by the choice of Chelsea women's coach Emma Hayes at the expense of Barcelona women's coach Luis Cortes, who was crowned with his team in the Champions League.
Under the title "List of Shame", the Spanish newspaper "SPORT" published an article criticizing FIFA's choices in women's football, and explained that the crowned coach lost with her team in the final against Barcelona 4-0.
The newspaper was surprised that no Barcelona player was chosen in the ideal women's squad, despite the Catalan club's coronation in the European Champions League.
The newspaper called on FIFA to reconsider the method of selecting the winners because the awards "lost their credibility", and considered that the system for selecting competitors had turned into a "bad joke".