Inter Miami’s standout player, Lionel Messi, opted to forgo attendance at the FIFA’s Best awards ceremony in London, where he claimed the top prize on Monday. Despite securing the award over the likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, Messi chose to stay in the United States for training with Inter Miami instead of making the trip to London.
Notably, neither Haaland nor Mbappe attended the FIFA’s Best awards ceremony either. According to respected Spanish journalist Guillem Balague, Messi’s decision was influenced by the considerable distance involved in traveling to London, which would have led to missing almost a week of pre-season training.
Balague posted an online update that read: “Reason of Messi absence in London.
“Messi has started training for Inter Miami and travelling to London would have meant 3/4 days lost.
“He has to adjust to his new football calendar. He had some physical problems second half of the year and he wants to do a proper preseason.”
