Ballon d’Or organisers break silence on why Vinicius Jr lost out on Ballon d’Or – and his boycott

Ballon d’Or organizers have been quick to respond to Vinicius Jr’s controversial absence. and Real Madrid stars at Monday’s ceremony.

Despite being heralded as one of the favorites to win football’s biggest prize for solo performance last year, the Brazilian forward finished in second place behind Manchester City’s Rodri.

After reports emerged earlier in the day that Vinicius would not pick up the iconic golden ball, Real Madrid were reportedly less than happy with the decision, with ESPN Brazil claiming club sources called it a ‘historic robbery’.

Considering Rodri was the key figure in arguably City and Spain’s best club team and national team of 2024, it seems a legitimate call to hand the award to him, but Vinicius Jnr appears seemingly unconvinced.

But after the gala in Paris, France Football’s editor-in-chief – who is responsible for the award – gave his verdict on why the Brazilian missed out, commenting on his controversial absence.

He came second behind Man City’s Rodri for football’s biggest individual prize, with teammate Jude Bellingham (centre) in third.

The Spanish star had a fantastic 2024, winning the European Championship and the Premier League

‘It is clear that Vinicius was certainly affected by the presence of Bellingham and Carvajal in the top 5, because mathematically that cost him some points. This is also a summary of Real Madrid’s season, which took between three and four players and the judges shared their decisions among themselves, which benefited Rodri,” explains Vincent Garcia.

He added: ‘I had a lot of pressure from Real Madrid, but as with other clubs I was always clear and honest and perhaps my silence pushed them to the limit.

‘But it was the same as the others. I was very unpleasantly surprised by his absence.’

On any other night it would have been considered nothing short of a huge success for the Spanish side.

Real Madrid scooped awards for best team of the year, as well as men’s manager of the year for Carlo Ancelotti.

But in addition to the fact that their star man missed the individual men’s gong, arch-enemy Barcelona also had a successful evening.

Their highly praised La Masia academy produced another Kopa Trophy winner in Lamine Yamal, with superstar Aitana Bonmati also earning a second consecutive women’s Ballon d’Or award.

Meanwhile, Vinicius was the overwhelming favorite to win the Ballon d’Or this year after scoring 24 goals and registering 11 assists during a stellar campaign last time out.

Carlo Ancelotti was named the best men’s manager in the world for his own stellar year

Barcelona and Spanish star Aitana Bonmati won the women’s Ballon d’Or for the second time in a row

Rodri’s Spanish teammate Lamine Yamal took the Kopa Trophy for the best young men’s player

RMC reported that Madrid president Florentino Perez was furious about the decision.

Journalist Jose Luis Sanchez claimed that a 50-man party was set to go, but they canceled after discovering that Vinicius would not win.

Sources at the club told ESPN Brazil that the insult was a “historic robbery.”

Marca also reported that Madrid insiders have angrily declared that “the Ballon d’Or no longer exists for us.”

A statement from Madrid to AFP said: ‘If the award criteria do not identify Vinicius as the winner, the same criteria must identify Carvajal as the winner.

‘Since this was not the case, it is clear that the Ballon d’Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid will not go where it is not respected.”

According to ESPN Brazil, Vinicius Junior’s criticism was described by Real Madrid sources as a ‘historic robbery’

In response to Madrid’s boycott, Ballon d’Or organizers said in a statement: “No player and no club yet knows the winner of this year’s Ballon d’Or.”

Vinicius and Jude Bellingham were scheduled to take their seats in the front row of the Theater du Chatelet, but their name tags were quickly removed after it was confirmed they would not be attending.