Spain captain Iker Casillas didn’t vote in the Ballon d’Or after the Spanish Football Federation failed to get the documents to him in time.
Lionel Messi beat Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar to the prize but Casillas was unable to have his say, AS reports, as the RFEF didn’t get the papers to the Porto goalkeeper before the November 20 deadline.
Other reports suggest Casillas only received the paperwork the day before the deadline, and so was unable to send them back in time for his vote to be counted.
Spain Coach Vicente Del Bosque did vote, however, and made Messi his first choice ahead of Ronaldo, with La Roja representative Andres Iniesta in third.
Del Bosque picked Luis Enrique, Pep Guardiola and Unai Emery as his three Coaches of the year, with the award won by the Barca trainer.
AS’ Alfredo Relano, representing the Spanish Press, voted for Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar as his top three players, and Jorge Sampaoli, Enrique and Emery for the Coach’s selection.
Messi, as captain of Argentina, voted for Luis Suarez, Neymar and Iniesta, and Ronaldo, skipper of Portugal, picked Karim Benzema, James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale.
Neymar, who wears Brazil’s armband, chose Messi, Suarez and Ivan Rakitic, AS pointing out that a number of players voted for colleagues at club or international level.
