FIFA Denies Foul Play in Lionel Messi Winning World Player Award
Global governing body of football FIFA has denied claims that their World Player of the Year vote was rigged to make sure Lionel Messi won the award. Nicaragua captain Juan Barrera called for an investigation into the integrity of the vote after he insisted that he did not vote for Messi.
Zurich, September 28: Global governing body of football FIFA has denied claims that their World Player of the Year vote was rigged to make sure Lionel Messi won the award.
Nicaragua captain Juan Barrera called for an investigation into the integrity of the vote after he insisted that he did not vote for Messi, according to a report in www.metro.co.uk. Lionel Messi Wins FIFA Men's Player of the Year Award as Cristiano Ronaldo Skips Ceremony, Megan Rapinoe Bags Women's Honour; Check Full Winners' List.
FIFA looked into Barrera's allegations and released a statement to ESPN, which read: "We have checked the voting documents submitted by the Nicaraguan FA and all documents are signed and confirmed with the official stamp of the Nicaraguan FA.
"Having compared with the vote sheets submitted by the federation and the ones we have published on FIFA.com, we confirm that we have the right votes signed by the player. We are asking the Nicaraguan Football Federations to inquire on this matter."
Messi won the award earlier in the week ahead of Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk who helped the Reds win the Champions League. Juventus and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo was also in contention.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 28, 2019 10:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).