Dalic refused to vote in The Best: "We deserve more respect"

Croatia, runners-up at the 2018 World Cup and third at the 2022 World Cup, were in the spotlight at The Best gala, as coach Zlatko Dalic refused to vote for the awards. In fact, the Balkan was the only one not to do so.

The country's federation issued a statement with the coach's words justifying his decision: "I am disappointed with FIFA's attitude towards the Croatian national team because I firmly believe that, based on everything we have achieved as a national team, we deserve more respect from the highest governing body of world football than we have received.

"Look at the list of 14 candidates for The Best FIFA Men's player, apart from the great Luka Modric, where are the other Croatian players? I don't want to mention any names, but was there really no place for Mateo Kovacic on that list? And for Josko Gvardiol? The majority included him in the top 11 for both the World Cup and the Bundesliga, and what about Dominik Livakovic - didn't he deserve to be one of the five finalists for FIFA's best male goalkeeper after all he did in Qatar?

Finally, Dalic gave a final closing argument. "If English, Brazilian, Spanish, Spanish, German or Italian players and coaches had the kind of results we have, they would be on the shortlist for every possible football award. Having taken all of the above into account, I have decided not to participate in the voting process for this year's awards, but I would like to congratulate all the winners on their well-deserved awards, especially Luka on his excellent fourth place. He is always number one for me though," he concluded.

 

February 28, 2023