FIFA Deny Votes for 'The Best' Were Altered After Allegations, Lionel Messi Win

FIFA have issued a statement in which they have dismissed allegations that voters for the Best Men's Player Award had their selections changed. 

On Monday, Barcelona's Lionel Messi was named as the winner of the award, beating Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo to the accolade.

After the winner was announced, FIFA released the full voting data for the prize, with national team captains and managers balloted, as well as selected media representatives from different countries. Some have since claimed the information published by world football's governing body does not match their initial votes.

However, FIFA have made it clear that the process was well vetted and ruled out any suggestion of wrongdoing, per the Press Association (h/t Sky Sports):

"FIFA has been disappointed to see a number of reports in the media questioning the integrity of the voting process for the awards.

"These reports are unfair and misleading. The voting procedure for each of the awards is supervised and monitored by an independent observer, in this case PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Switzerland.

"The written documents must also be signed by the responsible persons of the association as well as by the persons authorised to vote. Therefore in order for a vote to be valid it must include the respective signatures and the member association's stamp."

FIFA added that they would be able to "demonstrate" that the votes submitted in the correct manner and within the deadline were taken into account.

After Messi won the award, FIFA shared the points accrued by the footballers who made it into the top 10 of the category:

On social media, Nicaragua captain Juan Barrera said "any information on my vote for #TheBest2019 was falsified, thank you," (h/t Football Italia):

Per the report, Barrera's club said in a statement that the footballer "expressed his concern because his name was used in a situation where he had no participation" and "he did not exercise any vote and the information presented does not correspond to his criteria."

Previously, Sudan coach Zdravko Logarusic said his vote was changed too, claiming his selections were Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Kylian Mbappe. 

According to FIFA's records, he voted for Messi, Van Dijk and Mane. But as noted by Football Italia, the Sudan Football Association have since said a photo being shared by Logarusic of his supposed original picks had been photoshopped.

The win for Messi was the reward for an exceptional 2018-19 season. Although Barcelona faltered in the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey, they coasted to La Liga glory, with Messi putting in a number of exceptional performances. He scored 36 goals and grabbed 13 assists last term in the Spanish top flight.