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Real
Madrid stars Vinícius Jr. and Jude Bellingham were beaten to the men's best
player award by Rodri
As the stars of soccer gathered in Paris
for the Ballon d’Or
ceremony – an event which celebrates the very best of the sport
– there was one very notable absentee.
Real
Madrid, arguably the biggest club in world soccer, decided not to send its
representatives to Monday’s event, after learning that star player Vinícius Jr. had
not won the award for best men’s player, per multiple reports.
According
to AFP, The Athletic and
multiple Spanish outlets, Los
Blancos said they would not go where they were “not
respected.”
Manchester
City midfielder Rodri was named the men’s Ballon d’Or winner after the Spaniard
enjoyed a brilliant season with club and country.
Vinícius
finished second, ahead of his Madrid teammates Jude Bellingham and Dani
Carvajal – who finished third and fourth respectively.
Barcelona
Femení and Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí won her second consecutive Ballon d’Or
Féminin for best women’s player.
The
Ballon d’Or award is voted for by journalists from the top-100 ranked countries
in the world for the men’s award, according to FIFA’s
latest rankings, and the top-50 for the women’s award.
“If
the award criteria do not proclaim Vinícius Jr. the winner, those same criteria
should proclaim Carvajal the winner,” a Madrid source told AFP, The Athletic
and Spanish outlets.
“As
this has not been the case, it is obvious that the UEFA Ballon d’Or does not
respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid is not where it is not respected.”
CNN
has reached out to Real Madrid for comment.
CNN
has also reached out to UEFA and Groupe Amaury – who for the first time
co-organized the award – for comment.
Former
midfielder Clarence Seedorf, who played for the likes of AC Milan and Real
Madrid during a brilliant career, said he was surprised Vinícius didn’t win the
award and alluded to possible tension between the Spanish giant and the
European governing body.
“I
think Vini deserves this award. It seems like there’s something going on
between Real Madrid and UEFA that hasn’t been resolved,” Seedorf, who was at
the ceremony, told TNT Sports Brasil.
“It’s
a shame because I think these things have to be separated, particularly for a
player who’s in a special moment. We’ll see. Let’s see what happens.
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