The International Football Association’s male player of the year title has gone to Lionel Messi, and the female player award to the Spaniard, Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmat.
The International Football Association’s male player of the year title has gone in 2023 For Lionel Messi already for the eighth time.
The 36-year-old Argentinian, Inter Miami’s star striker won the final vote over the Frenchman, PSG Kylian Mbappe’s and the Norwegian, Manchester City Erling Haaland’s.
Messi and Haaland each got 48 points, but in a tie, the victory was decided by the votes of the national team captains, which Messi had more. Mbappe collected 35 points.
Haaland clearly received the most votes from the journalists and also the most from the national team coaches. However, Messi received almost twice as many votes from supporters as Haaland. Messi also collected the most votes from the captains of the national team.
Both Messi and Haaland were absent from the award ceremony, which was held in London.
– I would call the choice a scandal, criticized the football expert of the Norwegian broadcasting company NRK Carl-Erik Torp.
– A very strange decision. It (the winner) should have been Erling Haaland, writes the editor of The Times Martyn Ziegler in social media.
Messi also won the title last year after leading Argentina to the 2022 World Cup.
Spanish, from Barcelona Fence Bonmati25, was named female player of the year.
The winners of the award were the head coaches and captains of the national soccer teams, as well as the media and fans.