FIFA, football's world governing body, has deleted two tweets that appeared to mock Cristiano Ronaldo. The tweets were posted after Argentina won the FIFA World Cup One of the tweets said that the "GOAT debate" (an acronym for greatest of all time) is settled after the win of Lionel Messi's team. "The GOAT debate is settled. The ultimate prize is now part of the collection. The legacy is complete," FIFA's now-deleted tweet read. It had invited a lot of criticism from the fans of Ronaldo.
Messi's Instagram post after the World Cup win became the most liked on Instagram, suggesting that the Argentinian was GOAT in the eyes of social media.
But a post on FIFA's official account, which joined the debate, was slammed for "officially" elevating the Argentinian above the Portuguese.
There was another post from the FIFA's official handle which had a photo of Ronaldo with his thumb up with the text: "Thumbs up if you really enjoyed the FIFAWorldCup." This tweet too has been deleted.
Some Twitter users were less enthused by the posts.
"FIFA deleted this tweet after getting called out for being biased and receiving backlash. A professional account of the biggest football organisation in the world. It has always been Ronaldo vs the rigged system," tweeted a Ronaldo fan, posting the screenshot of FIFA's now-deleted post.
"They have taken the post down. Forget about being Messi fans or Ronaldo fans, FIFA was wrong by tweeting this. Leave the GOAT talk or debate or opinion to the fans and individual. This is one of the reasons some people believed FIFA are biased towards a player," said another.
"Fifa have no business having the goat debate is over in an official tweet from their official account. Why wouldn't it fuel controversies that they have a favorite player. What is this lmao," a third user commented.
Argentina won the final in Qatar 4-2 on penalties after a roller-coaster 3-3 draw for their first world title in 36 years.
That allowed Messi, 35, to finally crown his record-breaking career with football's biggest prize as he produced one of the greatest World Cup final performances, scoring a first-half penalty and netting again in extra time.
In doing so, he emulated his predecessor as Argentina's idol, Diego Maradona, who inspired the country to their second world title with a series of match-winning displays in Mexico in 1986.
Featured Video Of The Day
"I Only Hope...": Actor Jayasurya Breaks Silence On Sex Harassment Charges
Cristiano Ronaldo In Portugal Squad For Nations League Games 'Formula 1's Lionel Messi?' F1 Rookie Franco Colapinto Reacts To Comparison With Football Icon Kylian Mbappe's X Account Hacked: Controversial Lionel Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo Post Goes Viral INDIA's "Hit With Footwear" Protest In Mumbai Over Shivaji Statue Collapse Celebrated "Russian Spy" Whale Hvaldimir Found Dead In Norway: Report "It's Mom, I Love You": Mother Of Israeli-American Found Dead In Gaza Hostages "Brutally Murdered" Shortly Before We Reached Them: Israel Hema Report: Women Have Shown Courage, It's Time to Act! "Time This War Ended": Biden After Bodies Of 6 Hostages Found In Gaza Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.