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Karim Benzema's agent Karim Djaziri has slammed FIFA following the exclusion of the Real Madrid star from the recently-announced FIFPRO World XI.
The Frenchman has been one of the best forwards in the world over the past year. However, he was surprisingly snubbed from a spot in the world's best XI named by FIFA for the year 2021.
Shortly after the announcement, Djaziri took to social media to express his displeasure at his client's exclusion.
"Not putting Benzema in the eleven of the year is a lack of respect for football, but we know that football is the least of FIFA's concerns, and it has been for a long time!" he posted on Twitter.
Here's Djaziri's post following the announcement of the FIFPRO Men's World XI:
Benzema was named among the 23 shortlisted players but couldn't make the cut for the final XI. Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Erling Haaland and Cristiano Ronaldo received more votes than the 34-year-old Frenchman to form the attacking line-up.
Why Benzema was left out of FIFPRO World XI
FIFPRO employs a unique voting system to select the World XI lineup. Players from every professional football club partake in the voting process, naming the three players they think had been the best over a calendar year.
FIFPRO then selects the goalkeeper who receives the most votes, along with three defenders, three midfielders and as many attackers. The eleventh spot is reserved for the outfield player who is next on the list of most votes received.
The Real Madrid striker missed out on a spot in the XI as he couldn't garner more votes than the four attackers selected.
Benzema finishes fourth in FIFA The Best awards
Lewandowski was voted the 2021 FIFA Best Men’s Player, followed by Messi in second and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah in third. The 34-year-old Frenchman finished ahead of Ronaldo and Haaland to be named the fourth best men's player for 2021.
Chelsea's N'Golo Kante and Jorginho finished fifth and sixth respectively, followed by Cristiano Ronaldo in seventh, Kylian Mbappe in eighth, Kevin De Bruyne in ninth, Neymar in tenth and Haaland in eleventh.
The voting system for FIFA The Best awards is different from that of FIFPRO. National team coaches, captains, fans and journalists all get a 25% say each in the voting process.
