- It has been reported that none of Real Madrid’s nominated players will attend the event
- It follows reports that the Ballon d’Or winner was leaked on Sunday
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Real Madrid striker Vinicius Jr. has reportedly refused to attend tonight’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris as he believes the outcome is a foregone conclusion.
The Spanish and French press have even reported that no Real player, member of management or coaching staff will be present at tonight’s glitzy ceremony, held at the Theater du Chatelet.
The shocking news comes after it was reportedly leaked on Sunday that Vinicius Jr. was the winner of football’s most iconic individual award.
But in a twist of fate, this list was incorrect and the winner is in fact Rodri, Manchester City’s midfield maestro.
Ballon d’Or organizers insisted on Monday afternoon ahead of the ceremony: ‘No player and no club yet knows the winner of this year’s Ballon d’Or.’
Vinicius Jr and Real Madrid ‘will BOYCOTT the glitzy Ballon d’Or ceremony tonight
This shocking news comes after it was reportedly leaked that Man City’s Rodri has won the award
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is reportedly ‘furious’ that Vinicius Jr. didn’t win
RMC reported this that ‘Real president Florentino Perez is furious’ and as a result ‘the Real Madrid delegation has canceled its visit to Paris’.
This is despite the fact that Los Blancos will also win the Club of the Year award.
News page MadridXtra shared a quote from journalist Jose Luis Sanchez on social media platform They canceled the trip when they found out Vinicius was not the winner. Real Madrid is furious. @JLSanchez78′.
The official unveiling of the new winner will be confirmed on Monday at the glitzy awards ceremony, which will start at around 7pm (UK time).
Vinicius was a heavy favorite to win the 2024 Ballon d’Or after his epic contribution led Madrid’s frontline to a LaLiga-UEFA Champions League double.
The Brazilian, 24, has scored six goals and four assists in 10 Champions League appearances and scored 20 goals in 26 LaLiga games.
The leaked list appeared to show the top 12 players based on voting points. The unconfirmed list showed Vinicius Junior as the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner with 630 points – 54 more than Rodri, who came second.
Jude Bellingham, meanwhile, came third, while two other England forwards, Harry Kane and Phil Foden, finished fifth and eighth respectively.
Kylian Mbappe is fourth, Lamine Yamal seventh, while Dani Olmo, Florian Wirtz, Dani Carvajal and Antonio Rudiger are ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth respectively.
A list of the top twelve players and how many voting points they apparently received went viral on social media on the eve of the announcement
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland (left) finished second in last year’s Ballon d’Or voting, but has reportedly fallen to sixth in the 2024 rankings
Jude Bellingham apparently came third in the voting, with two other Englishmen in the top eight
But perhaps surprisingly, Man City’s record-breaking goalscoring machine, Erling Haaland, only finished sixth with 195 points.
Haaland, who finished second behind Messi in the 2023 edition of the Ballon d’Or, scored 38 goals in 45 appearances for City last season, helping them on their way to a domestic double in the Premier League-League Cup.
A Portuguese-speaking journalist who shared the list on Vini Jr is rightly the best in the world.”