Reports claim that there is a potential storm brewing over the voting for the FIFA The Best awards with some individuals claiming that they didn’t back Lionel Messi.
The Barcelona and Argentina superstar took home the biggest prize of the night on Monday after the ceremony in Milan, as he fended off Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo to land the award.
SEE MORE: Lionel Messi, Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo’s votes revealed for FIFA Best award
There is no doubt that the 32-year-old made a strong claim to earn the award and he was a worthy winner given his form and what he achieved last season, but reports claim that there could be issues with the voting.
As per the Daily Mail, it has been suggested that doubts have emerged over votes from the Egyptian FA, Sudan coach and Nicaragua captain.
It’s reported that the Egyptian coach and captain didn’t have their votes counted, while Sudan coach Zdravko Logarusic and Nicaragua’s captain Juan Barrera have claimed that they both didn’t vote for Messi in first spot despite the FIFA document showing it as such.
In turn, it remains to be seen what steps the governing body take to sort this potential mess out, as the mere fact that these doubts have emerged over the voting won’t reflect on them well at all.
It’s unclear at this stage as to whether that would make any difference to the voting and whether or not FIFA would consider a recount or the next possible steps, but something will surely have to be done to restore the integrity of the voting system for the awards if these claims are indeed proved to be accurate.
