Source: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
[Saba Sports News] Recently, the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony concluded with Manchester City midfielder Rodri winning the award. According to Spanish media reports, Real Madrid learned on the day of the awards that Vinicius Junior would not win and subsequently canceled their trip to Paris for the ceremony. Voices from within Real Madrid expressed: “If the selection criteria for the Ballon d’Or do not allow Vinicius to win, then it should go to Daniel Carvajal. But that is not the case; clearly, the Ballon d’Or and UEFA do not respect Real Madrid, and Real Madrid will not appear in places where they are not respected.” Reports indicate that within Real Madrid, there is a belief that if Vinicius does not win, then the award should go to Carvajal, and no one within the club mentioned Jude Bellingham’s name. Additionally, Vinicius’s team expressed complete confusion and dissatisfaction with this decision. They believe that the results were based on non-football factors and thus decided not to go to Paris, making their stance very clear. Vinicius himself proposed not attending the award ceremony and received support from his teammates.