Real Madrid stars Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvajal along with club president Florentino Perez were absent from the Ballon d'Or 2024 ceremony at Theatre du Chetelet in Paris on Monday, as a mark of protest. Based on a Reuters report, the Real Madrid delegation cancelled their visit at the last minute after the club understood that Vinicius wouldn’t win the top prize.
The Brazilian forward has been in prolific form in recent times and was favourite to win the coveted trophy, having won the Champions League player of the year enroute to team’s title triumph. Instead, the Ballon d'Or 2024 went to Manchester City midfielder Rodri.
Vinicius played a crucial role in Real Madrid’s La Liga and UEFA Champions League triumphs in the 2023-24 season. The forward scored as many as 21 goals and 11 assists across both competitions, thus setting a benchmark for himself in European football.
Not only he became a nightmare for opposition defenders, Vinicius’ goal-scoring abilities, agility, pace and ball precision made him unstoppable. He scored two goals against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinal first-leg and also netted one in the final against Borussia Dortmund to help Real Madrid secure the European title.
Reacting to the snub, Vinicius expressed his disappointment on social media. “I’ll do it 10x if needed. They are not ready,” Vinicius wrote in Portuguese. His Real Madrid teammates also showed their support towards Vinicius as midfielder Eduardo Camavinga called it ‘football politics’.
“My brother you are the best player in the world and no award can say otherwise. Love you my bro,” the French international wrote on X along with a picture of him celebrating with Vinicius. Former Real Madrid star Karim Benzema, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2022, took to Instagram and wrote “Trop Fort” (Too Strong).
The Ballon d’Or is a football award that is being presented to the best footballer over the previous season. It started in 1956. Former Barcelona star Lionel Messi has won most Ballon d’Or awards (8), followed by Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (5).
