The organizers of the Ballon d’Or have offered their explanation for why Brazil’s Vinicius Junior did not win the award, which was given to Rodri at the recent ceremony.
The rest of Real Madrid’s delegation, including the Brazil star, declined to attend the event in Paris.
There have been numerous discussions about the reasons why Vinicius Junior did not receive the coveted award and why the Real Madrid team did not attend the awards ceremony.
Given his incredible performance prior to this year’s Ballon d’Or, the player’s fans believe Vinicius was sabotaged or robbed of the award.
Consequently, organizers have swiftly responded to Vinicius Jr. and Real Madrid stars’ controversial absence from Monday’s ceremony.
The Brazilian forward came in second place to Manchester City’s Rodri, despite being touted as one of the favorites to win football’s most prestigious award for individual accomplishments over the past year.
Real Madrid reportedly were dissatisfied with the decision after earlier reports surfaced that Vinicius would not be lifting the renowned golden ball.
It would seem reasonable to give the award to Rodri because he was a key player in City and Spain, arguably the best club team and best national team of 2024. However, Vinicius Jr. seems to be skeptical.
Having said that, the editor-in-chief of France Football, which is in charge of the award, has commented on the Brazilian’s controversial absence and offered his opinion on why he was left out.
‘Obviously, Vinicius surely suffered from the presence of Bellingham and Carvajal in the top 5 because, mathematically, that took away some points from him. This also sums up Real Madrid’s season, which took between three and four players and the judges shared their decisions between them, which benefited Rodri,’ explained Vincent Garcia. I had a lot of pressure from Real Madrid but, as with other clubs, I was always clear, fair and perhaps my silence pushed them to the limit. ‘But it was the same as with the others. I was very unpleasantly surprised by his absence.’
Meanwhile, Carlo Ancelotti won the men’s manager of the year award and the award for the best team of the year for Real Madrid.
However, in addition to the fact that their star player was unable to win the individual men’s award, Barcelona, their archrival, also had a successful evening.
Lamine Yamal, another Kopa Trophy winner from their renowned La Masia academy, and superstar Aitana Bonmati won a second consecutive women’s Ballon d’Or award.
Lamine Yamal Tops Rankings For The Golden Boy Award
In the meantime, Vinicius was the overwhelming favorite to win the Ballon d’Or this year because he had a stellar campaign last time out, scoring 24 goals and registering 11 assists.
According to RMC, Florentino Perez, president of Madrid, was enraged by the decision.
Madrid’s Statement:
A statement from Madrid to AFP said: ‘If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner.
‘As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.’
In response to Madrid’s boycott, the organisers of the Ballon d’Or said in a statement: ‘No player and no club knows the winner of this year’s Ballon d’Or yet.’