France Football’s editor-in-chief Vincent Garcia has suggested that Vinicius Junior’s chances of winning the Ballon d’Or were harmed by the achievements of Real Madrid team-mates Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal.
Vinicius Jr had been the favourite to win the men’s award, which is presented by France Football who co-organised it with UEFA, before it emerged ahead of Monday’s ceremony in Paris that Manchester City midfielder Rodri was to receive the accolade.
Bellingham finished third in the voting with Carvajal in fourth and there were two other Madrid players in the top 30: Toni Kroos (ninth) and Federico Valverde (17th).
The men’s Ballon d’Or is voted for by 100 journalists, one from each of FIFA’s 100 top-ranked member nations. Each journalist picks their top 10 from the 30-player shortlist with descending points values for each pick (first is 15 points, second is 12, third is 10 etc). The player who receives the most overall points wins the annual award.
“Obviously, Vinicius surely suffered from the presence of Bellingham and Carvajal in the top five because, mathematically, that took some points away from him,” Garcia said on L’Equipe television, via Forbes.
“This also sums up Real Madrid’s season, which took between three and four players (in the top 30) and the juries distributed their decisions among them, which benefited Rodri.”
After the news of Rodri’s expected win on Monday afternoon, Madrid decided to cancel their trip to Paris for the awards having previously been expected to take a delegation of 50. The Athletic reported that the decision was taken on Sunday after the club found out and meant that no-one from the Spanish side was there to accept the award for best club in the 2023-24 season, nor was Carlo Ancelotti present to receive his award for best men’s coach.
Club sources, who wished to remain anonymous to protect relationships, explained Madrid had found out because Manchester City knew Rodri would be the winner, although sources briefed on the process assured The Athletic that the information did not come from the English club.
This was emphasised by Garcia, who said: “What I can guarantee is that no one at Real Madrid or at Manchester City was aware (of the winner). Maybe they (Madrid) had a feeling, a strong feeling.
“Perhaps the Clasico (Sunday’s 4-0 defeat by Barcelona) didn’t help. I don’t know. At the time that Real Madrid took its decision, I’m not sure that they knew 100 per cent that Vinicius hadn’t won the Ballon d’Or.”
Elsewhere, Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati won her second Ballon d’Or Feminin award in a row, while United States’ Emma Hayes won the award for best women’s coach.
(Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)
