Manchester City striker Erling Haaland might have opted against attending FIFA’s The Best Awards show, but the club were well representatives by captains Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias.
Both players were there for good reason, as they got named in FIFPRO’s Best Men XI of 2023 for their heroics in the calendar year.
The Manchester City duo had, of course, won the European treble with the club last season and also won the FIFA Club World Cup trophy in 2023.
Walker and Dias were both dressed in sharp suits and while the Portuguese centre-back decided to attend the ceremony alone, the former opted to bring someone special with him.
The Englishman decided to arrive with his eldest son Roman for the occasion in which he’d be named as part of the best XI of 2023.
This was actually a rare public appearance made by Walker with his 11-year-old child, as he normally opts to keep his private life separated from his public appearances.
This comes soon after the defender’s partner Annie Kilner announced that she would be separating from her childhood sweetheart after the Englishman was reportedly caught cheating on her.
kyle walker with his son at the fifa best awards😭😭 his pr team working overtime
In fact, Kyle shares three children with Annie and the two welcomed Roman as their first baby well before getting married in 2022.
It’s quite clear that she has at least allowed Walker to spend time with his sons and even take them to such a grand event despite separating with the Manchester City captain.
Walker’s decision to try and show himself off as a ‘family man’ has been called out by many supporters on social media.
It hasn’t really taken much for people to figure that he suddenly decided to attend this public event, which would be watched by millions and have eyes from the entire footballing world, to try and show his close bond with his child.
Actually, this is actually a well-known PR tactic that has been used by quite a few celebrities accused of cheating or doing something wrong in the past.
In fact, Manchester United winger Antony did something similar to this when he was accused of domestic violence against an ex-partner in Brazil earlier in the 2023/24 season too.
He turned up in front of the cameras outside Old Trafford for one match with his baby boy in hand during the period when he came under intense pressure for the serious accusations of hurting his ex-partner.
This is probably a diversion tactic for celebrities to try and clear their name after being accused of being unfaithful to their family.
Something which is rather surprising is that Walker stated in his statement after separating from Annie Kilner that he and his family wanted some ‘privacy’ in this moment, but then went on to bring his son into this public event days later.
Walker has been accused of cheating on Annie multiple times over the last decade or so and even allegedly shares a child with Lauryn Goodman, with whom he had an affair a few years ago.
Even though the Manchester City skipper is trying to make everyone forget about his past allegations with this PR antic, it’s clear that his intentions have easily been exposed by most of those who know of his past.
