London is hosting the FIFA ‘The Best’ gala and the football organization have blasted both Lionel Messi and Ronaldo for their absence at the award show, claiming they are discrediting football without even realizing it.
Both the Argentine striker as well as the Portuguese forward confirmed their absence before the gala.
“They discredit football, and they do not even realize it,” a representative of FIFA said at the gala.
‘The Best’ award show recognizes the best players from the 2017/2018 season, yet arguably the two best footballers in the past decade decided to skip the star-studded event.
Meanwhile, players like Luka Modric, Mohamed Salah, Sergio Ramos, David De Gea, Kylian Mbappe, Thibaut Courtois, Raphael Varane and Dani Alveswill all be present in addition to coaches such as Zinedine Zidane, Mauricio Pochettino, Zlatko Dalic, Laurent Blanc, Didier Deschamps, Joachim Low, and Fabio Capello.
Legends such as Zvonimir Boban, Michel Salgado, Julio Baptista, Nwankwo Kanu, Rene Higuita, Frederic Kanoute, Ronaldinho, and Ronaldo will also attend the event to stand beside the winners.
Football is played as a team and ‘The Best’ 2018 gala has been an ode to a team sport after many years of individual tyranny.
Of course, this edition has acknowledged the Champions League more than the World Cup, as all three of the finalists played the final in Kiev while none of them are French world champions.
