FIFA ready to take legal actions against Ronaldo and Messi

The World football governing body FIFA are taking Messi and Ronaldo’s decision to ignore awards legally. FIFA president Gianni Infantino is not a happy man. The Fifa president has not taken kindly to the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi from this year’s The Best awards ceremony in London, considering the decision by the game’s two biggest stars to constitute an effective boycott of the world governing body.

Both players have dominated the FIFA awards for like a decade, but Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric put an end to their dominance not only in FIFA awards but also in the UEFA awards.

Lionel Messi and Ronaldo are known for missing awards when it obvious one of them won’t clinch the grand prize.

The two world class stars have always made it to the FIFPro XI each year since they came into limelight but their absence at the awards always leave a gap in the group picture for the team of the year.

And to ensure there are no further gaps in the photo shoot when the year’s best 11 players gather to receive their awards, Infantino has instructed Fifa’s legal department to seek a way to enshrine attendance by the full list of nominated finalists at the annual ceremony in law.

Infantino’s predecessor in the position, Sepp Blatter, found himself in the eye of the storm in 2013 when during a question and answer session at the Oxford Union he expressed a preference for Messi and mocked Ronaldo’s “hairdresser expenses” while comparing his on-pitch style as that of “a commander,” performing a little routine on stage impersonating the Portuguese.

This elicited a withering response from Ronaldo, who demanded an apology from Blatter.

“This video shows clearly the respect and consideration that Fifa has for me, for my club and my country. Much is explained now. I wish Mr Blatter health and a long life, with the certainty that he will continue to witness, as he deserves, the successes of his favourite teams and players,” the Portuguese posted on social media.

It was forthcoming, privately via a telephone call and publicly with a social media release in which Blatter said he had meant no offence.

Only after that did Ronaldo agree to attend the 2013 Fifa Ballon d’Or ceremony (when both awards were combined into one), which he subsequently won, sparing Blatter the ignominy of handing over the prize to a stand-in.