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Cristiano Ronaldo will win Fifa’s ‘The Best’ award as Lionel Messi and Barcelona teammates snub inaugural ceremony in Zurich

Poor recent form and upcoming Copa del Rey clash has seen Luis Enrique and his players decide not to attend showpiece event

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LIONEL MESSI will not attend tonight’s Fifa ‘The Best’ ceremony — which all but confirms Cristiano Ronaldo has won the award.

Barcelona face Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday for their Copa del Rey round of 16 clash second leg, with the Basque side leading 2-1 from their first meeting.

Barcelona's biggest stars will not be in attendance at Fifa's 'The Best' ceremony
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Barcelona's biggest stars will not be in attendance at Fifa's 'The Best' ceremonyCredit: Reuters

And players decided in unison not to travel to Zurich for Fifa’s inaugural ‘The Best’ ceremony, as a poor recent run of form has added extra pressure to the tie.

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Messi, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Neymar and Luis Suarez were all due to attend.

Barcelona’s No.10 was expected to challenge red-hot favourite Ronaldo for the award, with Antoine Griezmann another potential candidate.

While the rest of his team-mates in question were in contention for the Team of Year — a category which is generally dominated by the Catalans.

Ronaldo won the Champions League with Real Madrid and Euro 2016 with Portugal, before claiming a fourth Ballon d’Or.

Barcelona fans Athletic Bilbao in Copa del Rey two days after Fifa's ceremony
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Barcelona fans Athletic Bilbao in Copa del Rey two days after Fifa's ceremonyCredit: Reuters

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Cristiano Ronaldo will now almost certainly add Fifa's 'The Best' to his Ballon d'Or
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Cristiano Ronaldo will now almost certainly add Fifa's 'The Best' to his Ballon d'OrCredit: Getty Images
Barcelona's 1-1 draw at Villarreal means season has now reached crisis point
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report that Fifa are less than pleased with the absence of any Barcelona representation.

New president, Gianni Infantino, has made a host of sweeping changes as tries to repair the tarnished image of football’s governing body, following various public scandals.

First among them was to resurrect the Fifa World Player of the Year award, which ran from 1991 until 2009.

It merged with France Football’s Ballon d’Or to create one individual, annual award.

Lionel Messi won last Fifa World Player of the Year award, back in 2010
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Lionel Messi won last Fifa World Player of the Year award, back in 2010Credit: AP:Associated Press
Lionel Messi has won Ballon d'Or five times, but will not win Fifa 'The Best'
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Lionel Messi has won Ballon d'Or five times, but will not win Fifa 'The Best'Credit: Getty Images
Gianni Infantino is thought to be less than pleased with Barcelona's absence
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Gianni Infantino is thought to be less than pleased with Barcelona's absenceCredit: Getty Images

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Infantino sanctioned a £13million-split and cares deeply for the prestige of the honour.

Despite the ceremony taking place in Zurich, Fifa’s Swiss president hopes to enhance its reputation by taking it around other European cities.

So, Barcelona’s decision to snub his big day will not have gone down very well.

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