David Alaba Issues Statement After Facing Abuse For Voting For Messi Over Benzema In FIFA Awards
The recently concluded FIFA The Best awards did not go down well at Real Madrid. Having overcome several hurdles on their way to a special UEFA Champions League title, whilst delivering some of the best comebacks ever seen in football, many felt that the Merengues deserved more representations and first-place finishes.
However, their achievements were overshadowed by the FIFA World Cup and Lionel Messi’s completion of football as Argentina dominated the ceremony on all fronts.
David Alaba was one of the few Real Madrid players given the chance to vote for the prize, and it was revealed that the Austrian captain picked Lionel Messi over his teammate Karim Benzema.
The revelation did not go down well with fans, who resorted to hurling abuse at the defender. Following the events, Alaba has been forced to explain his action on his social media account.
“The Austrian national team vote for this award as a team, not me alone. Everyone in the team council is able to vote and that’s how it’s decided,” Alaba’s statement read.
Everyone knows, especially Karim, how much I admire him and his performances and I have often said that for me he is the best striker in the world, and that is still the case. Without doubt.”
The Real Madrid player’s explanation seems to have calmed the storm that was unnecessarily blown out of proportion from the very start.
Messi won the best player award by an overwhelming majority while Lionel Scaloni beat Carlo Ancelotti to the best manager accolade. Real Madrid did not even win on the goalkeeper front, with Thibaut Courtois finishing behind Emiliano Martinez.
Around the time of the awards, Benzema posted a cryptic post on his social media that signalled favouritism. It remains to be seen if FIFA’s decision to deny him the award pushes him to greater success this season.
