Ballon d’Or organizers said on Monday that “not a single player or club” knows who won the award, responding to Real Madrid’s decision to boycott the event as they believe Vinicius wouldn’t have won. “All clubs and players are in the same boat,” a Ballon d’Or source told AFP, noting the strict confidentiality rules set for the 2024 edition.
Real Madrid said they will not take part in the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris on Monday because they are convinced that their striker Viniciusfavorite to win the men’s award was snubbed.
The club told AFP it had questioned the methods used to select the Ballon d’Or winner, saying defender Dani Carvajal, another of the 30 players nominated, had also been unfairly overlooked.
“If the award criteria do not allow Vinicius as the winner, the same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner,” the club told AFP.
“Since this was not the case, it is clear that the UEFA Ballon d’Or does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where they are not respected.”
The organizers of the Golden Ball decided to take an innovation this year and keep the identity of the winner a secret until the very end in order to avoid any leaks of information to the press.
In previous years, the winner was revealed several days before the awards ceremony.
All nominees were invited to the ceremony in Paris this evening.
The absence of Real Madrid players and the club’s statement suggest that neither ViniciusNeither Carvajal nor Jude Bellingham, the architects of the club’s European triumph, would win the trophy.
This could pave the way for Manchester City’s Spanish midfielder Rodri, who won Euro 2024 and was named the tournament’s best player by UEFA.
The Ballon d’Or is awarded by a jury made up of journalists representing the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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