Argentina legend Diego Maradona admitted he thought compatriot Lionel Messi was wrong not to appear at The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony in Zurich, Switzerland on Monday.
The Barcelona ace, along with the rest of the Catalan side, were not in attendance as Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo beat him to the Best FIFA Men's Player Award—Atletico Madrid's Antoine Greizmann came third—mere weeks after the Portuguese star also won the Ballon d'Or ahead of Messi.
The reason offered for Barcelona's absence in a club statement was they needed to prepare for Wednesday's Copa del Rey clash with Athletic Bilbao.