The award ceremony for the Ballon d'Or 2024, one of the most coveted prizes in world soccer, takes place in Paris on Monday (30). However, one notable absence will mark the event: Real Madrid's standout Brazilian striker Vini Jr. will not be attending the ceremony, nor will any representative of the Spanish club. As revealed by French radio station RMC and confirmed by Spanish newspaper Marca and the ge portal, the reason for the absence would be related to the supposed anticipation of the winner, who would be Spanish midfielder Rodri, a key player in Manchester City's Champions League triumph and the European Championship for the Spanish national team.
After an outstanding season in which he contributed decisively to winning the Spanish Super Cup, the Spanish League and the Champions League, Vini Jr. was seen as one of the favorites for the award. The news of Rodri's award, leaked just before the ceremony, was reportedly met with dissatisfaction by Real Madrid and prompted the boycott.
In addition to Rodri, other strong contenders for the award were Jude Bellingham, also from Real Madrid and one of the season's great revelations. The Brazilian, however, carries a unique responsibility: since 2007, with Kaká, no Brazilian player has won the Ballon d'Or, and Vini Jr. was seen as a strong candidate to end the streak.
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| Vini Jr. agradecendo a torcida do Real Madrid no Estádio Santiago Bernabéu (Foto: Reprodução/Redes Sociais) |
Real Madrid issues statement on the case of Vini Jr.
After canceling a flight to Paris with around 50 people for the Ballon d'Or ceremony taking place today, Real Madrid sent a note to the AFP news agency
“If the criteria for the award do not proclaim Vinicius as the winner, those same criteria should proclaim Carvajal as the winner. As this has not happened, it is obvious that the Ballon d'Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid doesn't go where it isn't respected,” said the statement.
The awards
In addition to Vini Jr and Rodri, 28 other players were also shortlisted for the award. Important names in modern world soccer such as Haaland, Mbappé and Lamine Yamal are also on the list. In all, 100 journalists from different countries around the world take part in the voting to rank the athletes. The winner of the competition will be announced on Monday (28) at 4pm. See the full list of athletes below:
The 30 finalists in the running for the Ballon d'Or:
Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)
Hakan Çalhanoglu (Inter de Milão)
Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid)
Rúben Dias (Manchester City)
Artem Dovbyk (Dnipro/Girona/Roma)
Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen)
Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund)
Harry Kane (Bayern de Munique)
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)
Ademola Lookman (Atalanta)
Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa)
Lautaro Martínez (Inter de Milão)
Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain/Real Madrid)
Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
Dani Olmo (Leipzig/Barcelona)
Cole Palmer (Manchester City/Chelsea)
Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Rodri (Manchester City)
Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
William Saliba (Arsenal)
Federico Valverde (Real Madrid)
Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid)
Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain)
Nico Williams (Athletic Club)
Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
