Rodrigo’s (Manchester City) Ballon d’Or win has been met with a lot of backlash.
French soccer magazine France Football held the 2024 Ballon d’Or award ceremony at the Théâtre de la Châtelet in Paris, France, on Monday night. Considered the highest honor in football, the award is given to the player who performed the best in the previous season. This year, the honor went to Manchester City’s Rodrigo.
However, some people were surprised that he won the award instead of Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid), who was one of the favorites.
Rodri scored nine goals and provided 14 assists in 50 appearances for City last season, leading the team’s midfield. His presence helped City win four consecutive Premier League titles for the first time in their history.
Rodríguez also played an important role for the Spanish national team. At UEFA Euro 2024, Spain started him in all but the third match of the group stage and won the tournament thanks to his dominant performance in the center of the park. Despite being substituted in the final due to injury, he was named the tournament’s MVP.
Rodri, who is currently out for the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, attended the ceremony on crutches and accepted the Ballon d’Or trophy from George Weah.
Prior to the ceremony,
Vinicius was considered the favorite to win the Ballon d’Or over Rodri. 파워볼사이트 Vinicius scored 15 goals and provided six assists in La Liga last season to help Real Madrid win the league title, and he also scored six goals and provided five assists in 10 appearances in UCL. Whenever it mattered, he shone.
However, Vinicius was not selected as the final winner. To make matters worse, Real Madrid’s representatives boycotted the ceremony, as if they had predicted his absence. Spanish media speculated that Real Madrid and Vinicius did not attend the ceremony because they thought Rodri’s Ballon d’Or win was a foregone conclusion.
Real Madrid also believes that Vinicius has been tarnished by racism, and that his performance has been compromised.
Ballon d’Or general manager Vincent Garcia dismissed the speculation. “The winner of the Ballon d’Or is decided by a vote of journalists from 100 countries selected by FIFA,” Garcia told British outlet TeamTalk. “The spread of votes, with Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal among the top nominees, like Vinicius, may have played a role in his failure to win the award.
“Neither Real Madrid nor Manchester City knew in advance who the winner would be,” he emphasized.
Garcia also didn’t hide his displeasure with Real Madrid’s absence from the ceremony.