REAL MADRID star David Alaba was racially abused after seemingly voting for Lionel Messi rather than Karim Benzema in Fifa’s The Best awards.
The Paris Saint-Germain ace, 35, crowned his 2022 by leading Argentina to their first World Cup since 1986.
Messi has now scooped his latest accolade at Fifa’s The Best following last night’s glitzy bash in Paris after receiving the most votes from his peers.
The legend pipped club mate Kylian Mbappe to the top prize – which he lifted for a second time – with 52 points compared to the Frenchman’s 44.
Madrid star Karim Benzema came in third on 34 points.
A breakdown of each national captain who voted has now been released – but it was Austrian skipper Alaba’s choice that had some of his own supporters raging.
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Despite other players prioritising their own team-mates, the 30-year-old ex-Bayern Munich ace did not select Real Madrid colleague Benzema in top spot.
He handed his five points to Messi, with Benzema in second and Mbappe in third – and soon #AlabaOut began trending on social media before he received the disgusting racist abuse.
Idiots commented with monkey emojis on many of Alaba’s recent social media posts in a sickening online attack.
Meanwhile, Alaba took to Twitter to offer an explanation on the choice of Messi following the criticism.
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He wrote: “The Austrian national team vote for this award as a team, not me alone.
“Everyone in the team council is able to vote and that's how it's decided.
“Everyone knows, especially Karim, how much I admire him and his performances and I have often said that for me he is the best striker in the world, and that is still the case. Without doubt.”
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