Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and the club’s star players are reportedly set to snub tonight’s Ballon d’Or ceremony as it’s emerged that Vinicius Junior won’t be winning the award.
Vinicius had looked the favourite to be crowned the world’s best player with this prestigious prize, but one imagines Manchester City midfielder Rodri will now be the clear favourite.
See below as journalist Fabrizio Romano posts the latest on this crazy situation, with Real Madrid clearly not at all happy with Vinicius’ snub as they now look to be cancelling their trip to Paris altogether, in what looks quite disrespectful to Rodri or whoever ends up winning it…
? BREAKING: Vinicius Jr will NOT travel to Paris as Real Madrid know he will NOT win the Ballon d’Or.
No one from Real Madrid will attend the ceremony. No Florentino Pérez, no Vini Jr, no Carlo Ancelotti, no Jude Bellingham. pic.twitter.com/qN9PaYjmR0
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 28, 2024
Vinicius would have been a deserved winner after some world class form to help Real Madrid win the Champions League last season, but the Brazil international also surely needs to respect the winner.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi always attended the Ballon d’Or ceremony as they took it in turns to win the award, with no sign of bitterness from either of them when they were the one to miss out.
Should Vinicius Junior have won the Ballon d’Or over Rodri?
Rodri has been superb for Man City, while he also played a key role in Spain winning Euro 2024 in the summer, but it perhaps feels a bit odd to be giving this award to someone who is essentially a defensive midfielder.
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Attacking players normally pick up these awards, and perhaps it’s refreshing to see other positions getting more credit for a change, but at the same time it feels right that the game’s great entertainers should be prioritised to a certain extent.
Messi and Ronaldo are the kinds of players fans will remember, and Vinicius looks like someone who could come into that category, even if there’ll probably never be another quite like Messi or Ronaldo.
