Explained: Why Cristiano Ronaldo did not vote in FIFA Best Player award

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Cristiano Ronaldo did not vote in the FIFA Best Awards, despite international captains being entitled to do so. Ronaldo's eternal rival Lionel Messi bagged the prestigious award for the second time, levelling with Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski who won the accolade twice in the past.

Ronaldo, who now plays for Saudi club Al Nassr, was leading Portugal at the World Cup in Qatar last year and was dropped to the bench for the knockout stages before the European nation made quarterfinal exit to Morocco.

There has been no announcement since, suggesting that he has been stripped off the captaincy armband.

However, rather than Ronaldo, his long-term international teammate veteran defender Pepe voted as Portugal's captain.

Fernando Santos was axed as Portugal's boss shortly after Portugal's elimination from the FIFA World Cup. Roberto Martinez has since been appointed in his place and insisted that he has Ronaldo in his plans for the near future.

Pepe voted for PSG star Kylian Mbappe as men's player of the year. The 40-year-old former Real Madrid defender didn't even select old rival Lionel Messi in his top three, instead going for former Madrid team-mates Luka Modric and Karim Benzema in second and third respectively.

Upon his appointment, Martinez suggested that Ronaldo would be part of his plans moving forward, despite his predecessor Santos having dropped the Al-Nassr forward during the World Cup.

Despite being snubbed by Pepe, Messi went on to his second "The Best" award triumph - equalling Lewandowski and Ronaldo's tally.

Messi beat his club teammate Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema to bag the prestigious award for the second time. The Argentine superstar won the award with 52 points with second-placed Mbappe finishing with 44 points and Benzema winning 34 points.

Being Argentina's captain, Messi was allowed to vote and he picked Neymar as his first choice ahead of another of his PSG teammates in Mbappe, who finished second behind Messi in the final standings. Messi's third vote was for Karim Benzema. Mbappe, of course, didn't get to vote as he is not France's skipper.