Revealed: Why Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t vote at FIFA Best awards as Lionel Messi won men’s player of the year accolade

Fans were left puzzled on Monday night when Cristiano Ronaldo did not vote in the FIFA The Best Awards, which was won by Lionel Messi.

Reports now suggest that Ronaldo's relegation to the bench at the World Cup by Fernando Santos has seen Pepe take over as the new captain. The FC Porto star was the one to vote in the FIFA The Best awards alongside new Portugal manager Roberto Martinez.

GOAL claim that it was the only reason behind the defender taking on the duties of voting from the former Manchester United star. The FC Porto star voted for PSG's Kylian Mbappe and his former Real Madrid teammates, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema.

Pepe was recently asked about Cristiano Ronaldo and claimed that he was in touch with the Al Nassr star. Speaking about the move to Saudi Arabia, the FC Porto star said:

"I knew about that and contacted him. He told me that he is fine and the most important thing for him is to feel this way and for his family to be satisfied."

Pepe blamed Cristiano Ronaldo's FIFA World Cup exit on Lionel Messi

Pepe was furious after Portugal were eliminated from the FIFA World Cup by Morocco. The exit left Cristiano Ronaldo in tears and the defender blamed it on Lionel Messi.

The former Real Madrid star claimed that FIFA were wrong to appoint an Argentine referee for the match and believes Messi's speech saw the official taking the African team's side. He said:

"We conceded a goal that we weren't expecting but I have to say this is bigger than me and I'm going to have to say it… It's unacceptable for an Argentine referee to referee our game. After what happened yesterday, with [Lionel] Messi talking, all of Argentina talking and the referee comes here to blow the whistle."

Pepe added:

"I'm not saying that he comes here conditioned… but what did we play the second half? The goalkeeper dropped to the ground. There were only eight minutes of stoppage time. We worked seriously and the referee eight minutes? We didn't play anything in the second half. The only team that played football was us. We are sad. We had the quality to win the World Cup and we didn't manage to. I can bet that Argentina will be champions."

Lionel Messi did go on to win the FIFA World Cup and also bagged the FIFA The Best Men's Player award on Monday.