One of the officials in charge of the Ballon d’Or award has revealed that the number of Real Madrid players nominated for the award will have split the votes and is ultimately what cost Vinicius Jr the prize. The 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony is officially in the books and it wasn’t without its controversy as Rodri won the iconic award over the Brazilian.
Coming into the evening, it had been largely reported that the Real Madrid man would receive the prestigious prize, but news leaked on Monday, just hours before the ceremony, that it would be Manchester City’s midfielder who actually won. As a result, Real Madridand their players decided to snub the event and they were all absent as Rodri was named the winner.
Immediately afterwards, multiple high-profile figures spoke out on social media about the result, with some criticising the fact that Vinicius Jr wasn’t named the winner. Now, one of the officials in charge of the event has revealed the key reason that ultimately might have cost him.
The 24-year-old boycotted the event after finding out he wasn’t going to win the main prize
There Were Too Many Real Madrid Players Nominated
It would have split the vote
Considering all that Rodri accomplished over the last year, including a Premier League title and a European Championship, he’s done more than enough to earn his first ever Ballon d’Or award. Some people aren’t convinced, though. With the multiple protests online about the result, the editor-in-chief of France Football, Vincent Garcia – the organisation in charge of the Ballon d’Or – has spoken out after the fact, as quoted by Daily Mail, and revealed what prevented Vinicius Jr from winning.
“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.”
Garcia then went on to speak about Madrid’s decision to boycott the ceremony and revealed how ‘unpleasantly surprising’ that was. He said: “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.”
With Madrid currently trailing Barcelona in La Liga and coming off the back of a 4-0 El Clasico thrashing, the snub may provide the motivation for Carlo Ancelotti’s men to turn things around and secure a second straight league title.
