Real Madrid president Perez claims Rodri unworthy of 2024 Ballon d'Or

"Rodri deserves the Ballon d'Or, but not this year," Perez said at Real Madrid's annual general meeting over the weekend. "This year, it should have gone to a Real Madrid player, no matter the criteria. "Whether it was Vinicius, as the global fanbase demanded; our captain Dani Carvajal, if extra weight was given for his Euro performances; or even Jude Bellingham. It's hard to explain why no Madrid player won. Strange things happened."

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. Photo by AFP

This year, UEFA reached an agreement with Group Amaury, owner of media companies France Football and French newspaper L'Équipe, to co-organize the award, aiming to increase the stature and global reach of the award.

99 journalists representing the football federations in top 100 FIFA voted, with the exception of Syria, who didn’t participate. Each journalist selected their top 10 players from the top 30 nominees, with 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points award to the players in order from 1-10. With this format, a player can receive a maximum of 1,485 points.

Rodri won the award with 1,170 points, 41 more than runner-up Vinicius, with a gap of just 3.6%. Third place Jude Bellingham received 917 points, while Carvajal came fourth with 550 points.

Rodri won the Ballon d'Or in Paris, France on Oct. 28, 2024. Photo by Reuters

Based on rumors from Spanish newspaper Marca in late September, Madrid were certain that Vinicius would win the 2024 Ballon d'Or. But shortly before the award ceremony in Paris on Oct. 28, the club learned that the Brazilian forward would not be the winner. Madrid leaders was so angry that they canceled the trip to Paris of a 50-person delegation, including leaders, coaches, players, family and friends.

Perez believes that UEFA's new role as a co-organizer has contributed to the "surprise" at the 2024 Ballon d'Or. He also criticized journalists from four countries for ignoring Vinicius in the vote for this individual award, The Mirror reported.

"They’ve changed the voting system," said Perez. "It’s surprising that, given the football, there are countries in which journalists with less than a million inhabitants now have a vote. There are journalists that nobody knows and they have entered to vote this year. Without the votes of journalists from these countries like Uganda, Namibia, Albania and Finland, Vinicius would have won this Ballon d’Or.

Perez then explained Real's absence from the Ballon d'Or ceremony and called for an overhaul of the voting system.

"The system must change and they must be recognized people who risk their prestige with these votes. For all these reasons, we did not attend the Ballon d’Or gala."

Last season, Vinicius scored 24 goals and 11 assists in 39 matches in all competitions, contributing greatly to Madrid’s triumph in the Champions League, La Liga, Spanish Super Cup and European Super Cup. His only minus point was at the national team when Brazil were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Copa America.