Nicaragua FA Clarifies Lionel Messi's 'The Best' Voting Controversy

The Nicaraguan Football Federation has attempted to clear up the controversy surrounding its representative's vote for Lionel Messi in The Best FIFA Men's Player award, admitting a mistake was made on its part. 

Per MailOnline's Sami Mokbel, Juan Barrera said he did not vote for the award, even though FIFA's ballot had him casting a vote for the Argentinian.

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But according to the Nicaraguan FA, newly appointed captain Manuel Rosas voted instead, and Barrera's name and signature were wrongly used on the ballot. The official responsible has been fired, they said.

Barrera's vote was one of several controversies, as Sudan coach Zdravko Logarusic reportedly said his vote was changed as well, per editor Sheikh Tophic Sienu:

Per Mokbel, the authenticity of both the claims and the image have since been questioned.

The votes of acting Egypt coach Shawki Ghareeb and captain Ahmed Elmohamady―who both picked compatriot Mohamed Salah―were not counted.

According to FIFA, they were invalid because the signatures were in capital letters, and the FA's general secretary did not sign the ballots. Further attempts to contact the Egyptian FA to clarify the votes ahead of the August 21 deadline were unsuccessful.

Messi won his first The Best award since it split from France Football's Ballon d'Or in 2017, and he did so by a wide margin:

The result was something of a surprise after Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk won the UEFA Player of the Year award, guiding the Reds to a UEFA Champions League trophy and within a point of Manchester City in the Premier League title race. He also finished second in the UEFA Nations League with Netherlands.

Messi won his sixth Golden boot and the La Liga title with Barcelona, but he only scored a single goal during a disappointing Copa America and lost against Van Dijk's Liverpool in the Champions League.