Real Madrid forward, Vinicius Jr will reportedly not attend tonight’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris, after finding out he’s not winning the award.
Spanish and French press have reported no player, member of the management nor coaching staff will be in attendance at the glitzy ceremony tonight, held at the Theatre du Chatelet.
The shock news comes after it was reportedly leaked on Sunday that the winner of football’s most iconic individual prize was Vinicius Jr. But in another twist, the winner is said to be Manchester City’s midfield maestro, Rodri.
Ballon d’Or organisers urged on Monday afternoon ahead of the ceremony: ‘No player and no club knows the winner of this year’s Ballon d’Or yet.’
RMC have reported that ‘Real president Florentino Perez is furious’ and as a consequence, the ‘Real Madrid delegation has cancelled its visit to Paris’.
Posting on social media platform X, news page MadridXtra shared a quote from journalist Jose Luis Sanchez, saying: ’50 people from Real Madrid were scheduled to travel to the Ballon d’Or Gala today. They cancelled the trip when they found out Vinicius wasn’t the winner. Real Madrid are FURIOUS. @JLSanchez78′.
The official unveiling of the new winner will be confirmed at Monday’s glitzy awards ceremony, which is due to begin around 7pm.
Vinicius was a hot favourite to win the 2024 Ballon d’Or after his epic contribution to leading Madrid’s frontline to a LaLiga-UEFA Champions League double.
The Brazilian, 24, hit six goals and four assists in ten Champions League appearances and tallied 20 goal involvements in 26 La Liga matches.
