Explained: Why Cristiano Ronaldo did not vote in FIFA Best Player award

Ronaldo,
who
now
plays
for
Saudi
club
Al
Nassr,
was
leading
Portugal
at
the
World
Cup
in
Qatar
last
year
and
was
dropped
to
the
bench
for
the
knockout
stages
before
the
European
nation
made
quarterfinal
exit
to
Morocco.

There
has
been
no
announcement
since,
suggesting
that
he
has
been
stripped
off
the
captaincy
armband.

However,
rather
than
Ronaldo,
his
long-term
international
teammate
veteran
defender
Pepe
voted
as
Portugal’s
captain.

Fernando
Santos
was
axed
as
Portugal’s
boss
shortly
after
Portugal’s
elimination
from
the
FIFA
World
Cup.
Roberto
Martinez
has
since
been
appointed
in
his
place
and
insisted
that
he
has
Ronaldo
in
his
plans
for
the
near
future.

Pepe
voted
for
PSG
star
Kylian
Mbappe
as
men’s
player
of
the
year.
The
40-year-old
former
Real
Madrid
defender
didn’t
even
select
old
rival
Lionel
Messi
in
his
top
three,
instead
going
for
former
Madrid
team-mates
Luka
Modric
and
Karim
Benzema
in
second
and
third
respectively.

Upon
his
appointment,
Martinez
suggested
that
Ronaldo
would
be
part
of
his
plans
moving
forward,
despite
his
predecessor
Santos
having
dropped
the
Al-Nassr
forward
during
the
World
Cup.

Despite
being
snubbed
by
Pepe,
Messi
went
on
to
his
second
“The
Best”
award
triumph
–
equalling
Lewandowski
and
Ronaldo’s
tally.

Messi
beat
his
club
teammate
Kylian
Mbappe
and
Real
Madrid
striker
Karim
Benzema
to
bag
the
prestigious
award
for
the
second
time.
The
Argentine
superstar
won
the
award
with
52
points
with
second-placed
Mbappe
finishing
with
44
points
and
Benzema
winning
34
points.

Being
Argentina’s
captain,
Messi
was
allowed
to
vote
and
he
picked
Neymar
as
his
first
choice
ahead
of
another
of
his
PSG
teammates
in
Mbappe,
who
finished
second
behind
Messi
in
the
final
standings.
Messi’s
third
vote
was
for
Karim
Benzema.
Mbappe,
of
course,
didn’t
get
to
vote
as
he
is
not
France’s
skipper.