The FIFA Best Awards: Credible as ever?
Ehiogu Justin Bede
On Monday, September 24, Luka Modric was crowned as The Best FIFA Men’s Player of the year. Since the turn of the decade, the award for the best player in association football has shifted from the FIFA World Player of the Year, the Ballon d’Or, and currently The Best FIFA Men’s Player. The Best Awards have been presented by the governing body since 2016 and are aimed at reviving the old FIFA World Player of the Year prize, which was merged with the Ballon d’Or in 2010.
This year, Real Madrid’s ace midfielder bagged the highly-coveted award ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi – who have dominated the award for ten years – immediately generating controversy across the footballing world.
Some have said that Ronaldo deserved to win the award again, citing his stellar performance for Real Madrid, particularly in the Champions League where he set a record for scoring in every single group game; and his contributions to Portugal’s World Cup campaign – albeit a not so successful one – including a hat trick in the first match against Spain. Some have posited that he has been overlooked because he is no longer at Madrid; this opinion is of course ridiculous.
Neither Real Madrid nor its president can somehow manipulate the decision of who gets the award. It is decided by voting, which is split equally between four voting groups of participants: national coaches of FIFA Member Associations, their team captains, a select group of media from those countries, and fans. According to the rules of allocation, each group will make up 25 percent of the total; the four percentages are then added together to form a total percentage that defines the winner.
Besides, Modric is utterly deserving of the award. Like his national team coach said, Ronaldo and Messi might be the best in the world, but this has been Modric’s year. He was Real Madrid’s best player at the Club World Cup, he helped them retain the Champions League, and he led his team to the World Cup final, ultimately winning the award of best player at that tournament, and the UEFA best player award.
But without listing these accolades, merely watching Modric play will show us why he is the best. When he gets the ball on his feet, the play flows as if football were the easiest thing in the world; his turns, his control, his command of the game, and his ability to keep possession are outstanding; his passes have pinpoint accuracy, and leave opposition players statuesque. In short: he is at the pinnacle of brilliance. So yes, the awards are still as credible as ever; perhaps even more so now that they have taken the light off the Big Two for a while, and let us appreciate more, the aspect of football away from goals and explosive play – the subtler art in the middle of the park that we oftentimes tend to overlook.
