- Lionel Messi has been excluded from the final shortlist of the FIFA best player award
- He won double with the Camp Nou outfit last season after scoring over 40 goals in all competitions
- This will be the first time the Argentine will be missing from the final three shortlist
Spanish League giants Barcelona have lashed out at FIFA following the exclusion of superstar Lionel Messi in the shortlist of final three players for the best player award.
The Argentine was left out of the list of best three players as released by the world football governing body at an event in London on Monday.
Champions League winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric alongside finalist, Mohamed Salah are the best three players according to the body.
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The 31-year-old guided his side to win the La Liga and the Copa Del Rey titles at the end of last term but his contributions weren't considered good enough for the prize.
Croatia midfield ace Modric has been touted to win the award after clinching the 2018 FIFA World Cup's best player award.
Meanwhile, this will be the first time since 2006 that the Argentine superstar will be missing out of the top three when the finalists were Fabio Cannavaro, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho.
The Catalan club made their displeasure after the football body released the list on Twitter on Monday.
Alongside a picture of Messi in action this season, they simply wrote: "No doubt for Barça Fans. He is the best. Period."
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Messi was part of the initial top 10 nominees, with Kevin De Bruyne, Raphael Varane, Antoine Greizmann, Eden Hazard, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe all set to join him in failing to make the cut.
Peter Schmeichel has tipped Modric to win the award at the unveiling of the nominations in London.
“I think we have a new winner this year," said the Manchester United great. “I think his performances were fantastic.
"Rightly so he got best player at the World Cup and I fully expect him to win this.”
NAIJ.com earlier reported that Barcelona star Lionel Messi was excluded from the podium for FIFA's Best award after the final shortlists were leaked.
The Best Men's Player will not be won by the Argentine star this year, despite a magnificent season for the Catalan giants.
Failure to go farther with Argentina at the World Cup or win the Champions League has proved decisive for the selection.
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Source: Naija.ng