Benzema and Real Madrid to miss The Best FIFA Awards to prepare for El Clasico

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Star forward, Karim Benzema has been nominated for the men's best player award alongside Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, both of whom had starred in the 2022 World Cup final last year.

Karim Benzema is one of the three players nominated for The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award. However, he won’t be present at the ceremony in Zurich. So won’t be his club manager Carlo Ancelotti, who is among the three nominees for the best manager award. In fact, none of the Real Madrid players will be attending the awards.

Per The Athletic, Madrid are set to miss the event to prepare for their upcoming Copa Del Rey semifinal first leg against arch rivals, FC Barcelona later this week.

Even though the decision to skip the ceremony was made by the club officials, the players and coaching staff agreed to it.

Star forward, Karim Benzema has been nominated for the men's best player award alongside Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, both of whom had starred in the 2022 World Cup final last year.

While Mbappe had scored a first hattrick in the men's World Cup final since 1966, his PSG teammate Messi has been pipped as the favorite to win the award for having guided Argentina to a third world title and having won the golden ball.

Apart from the individual awards, Thibaut Courtois, Luka Modric and Benzema are all expected to be named in the FIFPRO XI, while Antonio Rudiger and Fede Valverde will miss out despite their nominations.

Real Madrid manager Ancelotti was taken aback by Vinicius Jr being omitted from the nomination long list, which includes 26 players.

“I don't know the list, but the fact that Vinicius is not on it seems strange to me,” Ancelotti had said. “I think it was a mistake.”

Having scored the sole goal in Madrid's Champions League final win against Liverpool earlier this year, Vinicius has scored 19 goals in 43 appearances for club and country.

Related: Real Madrid Benzema
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