Ernesto Valverde has criticised football becoming less of a ‘sport’ and more ‘show business’ due to its multiple individual award ceremonies.
The Barcelona Coach’s comments come after FIFA’s The Best awards and ahead of the Ballon d’Or awards later this year.
“In the past, there were not as many awards and for the ones that existed, there was less of a furore,” Valverde told reporters.
“Now it has changed and there are too many awards and they are all big gala events, and that means everything is scrutinised more with greater attention.
“It seems to me that these events are self-promotion for the organisations and it takes away from the football, it simply adds more controversy.
“Football is a sport but events like these means it becomes more similar to show business.
“Who deserved to win? Everyone has their own opinion and our opinion is that Lionel Messi is the best player, but Luka Modric had a great year. I do not like comparing players.”
