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The Ballon d’Or award organisers responded to Real Madrid’s decision to boycott the event because they think Vinicius won by saying that “no player or club” knows who has won.
In response to Real Madrid’s decision to abstain from the Ballon d’Or award because they think Vinicius won, the award’s organisers insisted on Monday that “no player or club” knows who has won. A Ballon d’Or source told AFP that “all the clubs and players are in the same boat,” referring to the stringent confidentiality guidelines established for this 2024 edition.
Real Madrid stated that they will not attend Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris because they believe their striker Vinicius, who is the front-runner to win the men’s award, has been passed over.
The club told AFP that it questioned the selection process for the Ballon d’Or winner, claiming that another of the 30 players nominated, defender Dani Carvajal, had also been unjustly left out.
“If the award criteria don’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner,” the club told AFP.
“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.”
The Ballon d’Or organisers decided to innovate this year by keeping the winner’s identity a secret until the very end to avoid any leaks to the press.
In previous years, the winner was revealed a few days before the award ceremony.
All the nominees were invited to the ceremony in Paris this evening.
The club’s announcement and the Real players’ absence imply that Jude Bellingham, Carvajal, and Vinicius—the masterminds behind the team’s European victory—will not take home the trophy.
That might make room for Rodri, a Spanish midfielder for Manchester City who won Euro 2024 and was named UEFA’s best player of the competition.
A jury of journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings chooses the winner of the Ballon d’Or.