David Alaba receives massive abuse for voting for Lionel Messi in The Best awards

Real Madrid defender and Austrian national team captain David Alaba found himself in hot water earlier this week after the votes were made public in the recently concluded FIFA Best Awards. The controversy emerged after Alaba was found to have voted for Lionel Messi ahead of his teammate, Karim Benzema in The Best Men's Player category for 2022.

Alaba received a ton of abuse online after the votes were released to the public. Some were calling for him to be evicted from the Real Madrid squad, while others resorted to racist comments and monkey emojis.

The FIFA Best Awards calls for national team captains, managers and journalists to vote for players in a number of categories. As Austria's representative, Alaba ranked Messi on top, followed by Benzema. His third choice was PSG star and long-term Real Madrid target Kylian Mbappe. There was no doubt that the three players were exceptional in 2022, but what irked most bashers was a perceived "lack of loyalty" from Alaba for putting the former Barcelona player above his current teammate.

Alaba then had to take to his personal Instagram account to issue a statement via his stories. He explained that even though he casts the votes as captain, the Austrian national team makes the decision as a group. He added that they actually vote among themselves first before the captain finally goes to FIFA with the results.

He then went on to say that "Everyone knows, especially Karim, how much I admire him and his performances and I have often said that for me, he is the best striker in the world, and that is still the case. Without doubt."

While some were appalled by the fact that Alaba was forced into an apology due to the online abuse he received, some thought that he was just making excuses. Needless to say, questions have once again been raised about whether or not the votes should be transparent or kept anonymous in order to protect the participants.

Who did other Real Madrid and Barcelona players vote for?

As expected, Spain captain Sergio Busquets voted for his former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi in first place. He kept it in the family by voting for Robert Lewandowski in second, but he also named a player from rivals Real Madrid, in this case Benzema, as his third choice.

Meanwhile, Barcelona forward and Poland captain Lewandowski also went for Messi on top, with Mbappe second. He then reinforced rumours of a competitive grudge against Benzema when he opted for Luka Modric in third instead of the Frenchman.

For his part, the Croatia captain gave his teammate Benzema the top spot followed by Messi and then Mbappe. Messi meanwhile, chose PSG teammate Neymar Jr. for the top spot followed by Mbappe and Benzema.

Spanish publication Marca also revealed that former Real Madrid player and now Norway captain Martin Odegaard completely snubbed Los Blancos and voted for Messi, Erling Haaland and Mbappe.

Meanwhile, Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior was voted the best by Liverpool rival Mohamed Salah, who was voting on behalf of Egypt.

Overall, Real Madrid appear to have been slighted on the night of the FIFA Best Awards despite winning both the Champions League and La Liga last season.

The main best men's and women's awards went to Messi and Barcelona Femeni player Alexia Putellas, and Argentina's Emiliano Martinez edged Thibaut Courtois as the best goalkeeper.

However, the Belgian did make it into the FIFA Best XI. He was joined there by Real Madrid teammates Benzema and Modric. Carlos Casemiro, who was at Real Madrid before joining Manchester United in August, was also included.

Surprisingly though, Vinicius Junior was not even in the shortlist for the FIFA Best XI. This is comes as a shock considering the crucial role he played in Real Madrid's run to numerous titles. He only made it to 11th place in the individual category, way below other players who did not make as much as an impact.

Club president Florentino Perez did not attend the ceremony, which is a clear indication that the club is not pleased with the outcome. However, it may be remembered that the voting has been made transparent.

While Alaba ended up in the spotlight, a number of other people's votes raised eyebrows. It remains to be seen if FIFA will take note of the criticism and make changes in the future.