In Photos: Real Madrid Players ‘Make Merry’ at Teammate's Son’s Birthday Party After Snubbing FIFA Best Awards

• Players of Real Madrid unleashed the 'child' in them after boycotting this year's The Best FIFA Football Awards
• The entire Los Blancos team abstained from the gala despite some receiving nominations in some of the categories
• Up next for Carlo Ancelotti's men is a showdown with Barcelona in the Spanish Cup

The first team players of Real Madrid were spotted at Fede Valverde's son's birthday party after skipping the 2022 FIFA The Best Awards ceremony held on Monday, February 27.

Despite having players and manager Carlo Ancelotti being shortlisted for most of the award categories, the Spanish giants elected against gracing the gala in Paris, France.

In their absence, Lionel Messi was crowned the best men's player of 2022, ahead of finalists Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema, BBC reports.

Why did Madrid skip the awards?

According to the Athletic, Real Madrid players and manager Carlo Ancelotti skipped the gala to focus on their upcoming Copa del Rey game against FC Barcelona.

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The report further stated that Los Blancos do not consider it fitting to attend the gala at a critical stage of the season.

What did they do instead?

Despite citing sporting grounds for their absence at the awards, the players were surprisingly spotted at a birthday party.

They threw their weight behind teammate Federico Valverde, who organized a birthday bash for his child.

First-team players such as Luka Modric, Thibaut Courtois, Toni Kroos, Nacho Fernandes, Lucas Vazquez and Dani Carvajal were in attendance at the party.

In photos shared on social media, seen by Sports Brief, the players played with the kids present while also unleashing their inner child, participating in some of their fun activities.

Real Madrid players chill at birthday party

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In a related article, Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema has described FIFA as liars after Lionel Messi was named the 2022 best player at The Best Awards in Paris, France.

Messi beat Benzema and French teammate Kylian Mbappe to win the FIFA best player award for the second time.

Benzema feels the accolade was given to the wrong person after his stellar campaign with Real Madrid in 2022, including winning the La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles and finishing the year as the top scorer.

Madrid fans slam Alaba

Meanwhile, Sports Brief earlier reported that angry Real Madrid fans have singled out David Alaba for criticism following his decision to vote for Lionel Messi ahead of Karim Benzema at the recently held FIFA The Best Awards.

Alaba was the only Los Blancos player to vote for the Argentine, who won the coveted prize for a record-extending seventh time at the 2022 awards held in Paris, France.

His decision did not sit down well with a cross-section of Madrid fans, receiving a truckload of backlash, including racist abuse, per SportBIBLE.