January 21 – Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has hit out at FIFA after he was left off the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or award and snubbed the recent ceremony in Zurich.
The Uruguayan failed to make the final three in the world player of the year awards as teammates Lionel Messi and Neymar came first and third, with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo in between.
Suarez turned down what he claims was merely a token invite, suggesting he is still paying the price for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup finals for which he was handed a four-month ban plus a nine-game international ban.
“FIFA invited me to the Ballon d’Or gala using the excuse that I’d been named the best player at the Club World Cup,” Suarez said. “I don’t think they’ve ever invited the winner of that prize before and it just so happens that they thought to invite me.”
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