Real Madrid striker Vinicius Jr has reportedly refused to attend tonight’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris as he believes the result is a foregone conclusion.
In fact, the Spanish and French press report that no players, members of the management or the coaching staff of Real Madrid will attend tonight’s ostentatious ceremony, which will be held at the Teatro du Chatelet.
The surprising news comes after it was leaked on Sunday that the winner of the most emblematic individual award in football was Vinicius Jr.
But in a twist of fate this list was wrong and the winner is in fact the maestro of Manchester City midfielder Rodri.
The Ballon d’Or organizers urged on Monday afternoon before the ceremony: “No player or club yet knows the winner of this year’s Ballon d’Or.”
Vinicius Jr and Real Madrid ‘will now boycott tonight’s ostentatious Ballon d’Or ceremony’
This shocking news comes after it was supposedly leaked that Manchester City’s Rodri won the award.
The president of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, is “furious” because Vinicius Jr. has not won
RMC has reported that ‘the president of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, is furious’ and that, as a consequence, the ‘Real Madrid delegation has canceled its visit to Paris’.
This comes despite Los Blancos also winning the Club of the Year award.
Posting on social media platform that Vinicius was not the winner. Real Madrid is FURIOUS. @JLSanchez78′.
ESPN Brasil even confirmed that Real sources called the decision a “historic theft.”
Meanwhile, brand He reported that Real Madrid insiders have even stated that “the Ballon d’Or no longer exists for us.”
In fact, a furious statement from Real to AFP said: “If the award criteria do not show Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner.”
“Since it was not like that, it is clear that the UEFA Ballon d’Or does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.
The official presentation of the new winner will be confirmed at Monday’s glittering awards ceremony, starting around 7pm (UK time).
Vinicius was a big favorite to win the 2024 Ballon d’Or after his epic contribution in leading Madrid’s front line to a LaLiga and UEFA Champions League double.
The 24-year-old Brazilian scored six goals and four assists in ten Champions League games and scored 20 goal involvements in 26 LaLiga games.
The leaked list appeared to show the top 12 players based on voting points. The unconfirmed list showed that Vinicius Junior was the winner of the 2024 Ballon d’Or with 630 points, 54 more than Rodri, who came second.
Meanwhile, Jude Bellingham came third, while two other England forwards, Harry Kane and Phil Foden, came fifth and eighth respectively.
Kylian Mbappé is fourth, Lamine Yamal is seventh, while Dani Olmo, Florian Wirtz, Dani Carvajal and Antonio Rudiger are ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th respectively.
A list showing the top 12 players and how many voting points they apparently received went viral across social media on the eve of Monday’s announcement.
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland (left) finished second in last year’s Ballon d’Or voting, but has reportedly dropped to sixth in the 2024 rankings.
Apparently, Jude Bellingham came third in the voting, with two other Englishmen in the top eight.
However, perhaps surprisingly, Manchester City’s scoring machine Erling Haaland only came sixth with 195 points.
Haaland, who finished second to Messi in the 2023 Ballon d’Or, scored 38 goals in 45 games for City last season, helping them on their way to a domestic double between the Premier League and the League Cup.
A Portuguese-speaking journalist who shared the list on