On Monday, ESPN and other outlets reported that Vinícius Júnior and his Real Madrid teammates didn’t travel to Paris for the Ballon d’Or ceremony after learning that Manchester City midfielder Rodri would receive the award.
Per the ESPN report, Vinícius and his fellow nominees from Real Madrid—Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvajal, Kylian Mbappé, Antonio Rüdiger, Federico Valverde, and Andriy Lunin, who’s up for best goalkeeper, Arda Güler for the Kopa Trophy, and Carlo Ancelotti for best coach—will not be attending the event hosted by France Football in partnership with UEFA.
Choosing not to attend the ceremony is seen as a form of protest, with one club source calling it “a historic robbery.”
The Brazilian was a strong candidate for the 2024 men’s award after guiding Madrid to a double win in LaLiga and the Champions League last season.
Vinícius scored 15 goals in LaLiga last season and added six more in the Champions League, including crucial goals in Madrid’s semifinal victory over Bayern Munich and the final against Borussia Dortmund.
Douglas Luiz supports Vinícius after snub
Amid the controversy over Vinícius not winning the award this year, Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz took to Instagram to express his support for his fellow Brazilian and teammate on the national team.
“We all know who truly deserved to win the Ballon d’Or,” Luiz wrote (h/t JuventusNews24). “We’re all with you, brother; we will do everything so that one day you can win this Ballon d’Or. I love you. Nothing against the player Rodri; on the contrary, my compliments!”
In recent weeks, Madrid had a strong sense that the forward was set to win the award. If Vinícius had taken home the men’s Ballon d’Or, he would have become the first Brazilian to do so since Kaká in 2007.
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