Ahead of December's Ballon d'Or gala, Real Madrid and Spain great Iker Casillas has questioned the consistency of football's awards criteria.
Iker Casillas has questioned football's individual awards, flagging up what he feels may be a lack of consistency in the process by which their winners are chosen.
After Virgil van Dijk was named 2018/19 UEFA Men's Player of the Year in August, Lionel Messi then scooped the 2019 FIFA Best Men's Player award in September - and, with 2019 Ballon d'Or still to be handed out, Casillas is bracing himself for all three prizes to go to different recipients.
Taking to his Twitter account on Friday, the World Cup-winning former Real Madrid and Spain captain wrote: "Van Dijk was the best player for UEFA. Messi for FIFA.
"Imagine if Cristiano [Ronaldo] (who fully deserves to) wins the BALLON D'OR. It'd leave me with the impression that the criteria for giving out awards in football aren't very consistent, wouldn't you say?"
The winner of the 2019 Ballon d'Or, whose 30-man shortlist was revealed in October, will be announced at a ceremony in Paris in December.