David Alaba has spoken out after receiving racist abuse for not voting for Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema as Best FIFA Men’s Player after voting for Lionel Messi.
Messi was named the world’s best male footballer on Monday night, February 27, at FIFA’s annual award ceremony, just over two months after leading Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar.
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PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe beat out club teammate Benzema, who finished third in the vote, to win his second The Best title and first since 201.
The award is voted on by coaches, captains, and journalists from every country, and FIFA has released a full breakdown of who picked who following Monday’s ceremony.
In the voting results, Alaba, who captains Austria, chose Messi ahead of Benzema, placing his Real Madrid teammate second and Mbappe third.
The defender’s vote did not go down well with Los Blancos fans, who bombarded him with vile racist messages and told him to leave the club.
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In response, Alaba took to Twitter to clarify that Austria’s vote for Lionel Messi as Best FIFA Men’s Player was made “as a team, not just by me.”
‘Regarding FIFA The Best Award: The Austrian national team votes for this award as a team, not just me,’ he wrote. Everyone on the team council can vote, and that is how the decision is made.
‘Everyone knows how much I admire him and his performances, especially Karim.’
