The FIFA press service announced the nominees for the best footballer of the year award. This is an annual award from FIFA, which is awarded to the footballer who has shown the best to the world in the last calendar year.
But this time everything has changed a lot. For some reason they decided to present the award in October. It’s only been seven months since the last draw. But this is not the main oddity of the 2023 award. This time the results of the World Cup (the main competition on the planet) will not be taken into account.
But only some players will be affected by this decision. For the most part, players from France and Argentina will now have fewer privileges. These teams reached the final of the tournament.
The tournament took place in December 2022 in Qatar. This was the first World Cup to be held in winter. This decision was made due to the abnormal heat that the Asian country suffers in the summer.
In total, 12 different footballers were nominated for The Best award: Julian Álvarez (Manchester City, national team – Argentina), Erling Haaland (Manchester City, Norway), Kylian Mbappé (PSG, France), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami, Argentina) . ), Victor Osimhen (Napoli, Nigeria), midfielders Marcelo Brozovic (Al-Nasr, Croatia), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium), Ilkay Gundogan (Barcelona, Germany), Rodri (Manchester City, Spain), Declan Rice (Arsenal, England), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City, Portugal).
And there are many questions on this list. Somehow, for example, the substitute striker for Manchester City and the Argentine national team, Julián Álvarez, entered the classification. He won the treble with the club, but it was not even the main team, and in the English Championship he did not even make it into the top twenty best snipers. And his victory with the national team in the World Cup is not taken into account, as FIFA says, but why is he on the list then?
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Also among the best is Declan Rice, who played for West Ham United last season. His club won the Conference League and finished 14th in the championship. To be among the best, can the team’s successes be ignored?
But even more controversial is the appearance of Marcelo Brozovic among the nominees. The player left the core of his team and then went to the Asian championship. An absolutely mediocre player who experienced one of his worst seasons in recent times. It would be nice if his team won the local championship, but even that didn’t happen.
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But the most offensive thing in this whole story is for the forward Lionel Messi. In December he led his team to the world championship title, winning absolutely all the trophies in the tournaments in which he participated. He became the best player of the world championship (and this is the main tournament, which is also held under the auspices of FIFA), led his team to the French championship and is now tearing up a completely new continent, establishing a record. after registration.
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But if FIFA has set a goal, it will undoubtedly achieve it. Therefore, Messi’s merits simply do not want to be noticed. And he was given players who were not even the main players of their clubs or who finished the season in 14th place.
The Best Award, with such a choice of candidates and competition conditions, discourages all football fans and figures. The figure’s status is reduced. And everyone will once again judge the best players on the planet by the number of Ballon d’Ors, and not by imaginary awards.
