Cristiano Ronaldo expressed strong criticism regarding the credibility of FIFA’s The Best award, particularly as it was controversially presented to his long-time rival Lionel Messi this month. Despite achieving relatively little in the year, with his main accomplishments being securing an almost guaranteed Ligue 1 title with PSG and scoring a few goals against Brad Guzan while exploring retirement homes in Florida with Inter Miami, Messi was crowned the best footballer of 2023.
Ronaldo, now playing for Inter Miami, voiced his discontent, especially after receiving the newly-introduced Fans’ Favourite Player prize at the somewhat ironically named Globe Soccer Awards. The Al-Nassr striker asserted that individual awards like FIFA’s The Best and the Ballon d’Or were “losing credibility.”
Danish football journalist Troels Bager Thogersen agrees with Ronaldo’s sentiment, although he believes the reasons are different. Thogersen, who has been representing Denmark’s vote in the Ballon d’Or for over a decade, argues that players should not have the privilege of voting, mainly because they tend to favour their friends in the football community.
When the Ballon d’Or separated from FIFA in 2016, international captains and managers were excluded from the voting process, leaving appointed journalists as the sole voters. However, FIFA’s The Best awards, introduced in 2016 as a competitor to the Ballon d’Or, still allows players and coaches to cast votes, a practice Thogersen finds counterproductive.
In a column for the Danish outlet Tips Bladet, Thogersen expressed his support for the separation of FIFA and France Football, stating, “For a decade, I’ve been voting for the Ballon d’Or, and one of the best things to happen in those awards was when the French organizers from France Football and FIFA went their separate ways.”
He emphasized the relief of no longer having to contend with player votes, particularly from the likes of football giants like Cristiano Ronaldo, whom he believes are not sufficiently aware of their responsibility. Thogersen pointed out that many players vote for their friends or employ tactical voting. For instance, Ronaldo has never voted for Messi in either the Ballon d’Or or The Best award, consistently favouring his Real Madrid and/or Portugal teammates for six consecutive seasons during his time at the Bernabeu.
Thogersen concluded by highlighting the recurring pattern of superstar players assigning disproportionately high points to teammates and national team members, seemingly driven by a desire to demonstrate loyalty to their colleagues.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro
This season he played in total 18 times for 1616 minutes for Pro League.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 19 goals for Al Nassr. He procured 9 assists. He received 1 yellow card and no red cards.
His team is currently 2nd in Pro League. In the last match Al Nassr won 4-1 against Al Taawon. The next match in Pro League will be against Al Fateh.
Al Nassr performance and stats
It will be Al Nassr ended the league in the 2nd position with 46 points.
In the last 19 games, it has won 15 times, drawn once, and lost 3 times. In its last match, Al Nassr won 1-4 against Al Taawon.
It has a positive goal difference after scoring 55 goals and conceding 23.
Al Nassr will play the next match in Pro League against Al Fateh on Wednesday 14th of February in Riyadh.