The Ballon d’Or organisers have replied to the controversial exclusion of Vinicius Jr and his Real Madrid teammates from Monday’s presentation.
Despite being touted as one of the favourites to win football’s biggest accolade, the Brazilian attacker finished second to Manchester City’s Rodri.
Real Madrid withdrew from the event when it was reported earlier in the day that Vinicius would not be hoisting the famed golden ball.
The editor-in-chief of France Football, which is in charge of the prize, has expressed his opinion on why the Brazilian was left out and commented on his controversial absence.
“Obviously, Vinicius surely suffered from the presence of Bellingham and Carvajal in the top 5 because, mathematically, that took away some points from him. This also sums up Real Madrid’s season, which took between three and four players and the judges shared their decisions between them, which benefited Rodri,” explained Vincent Garcia.
He added: “I had a lot of pressure from Real Madrid but, as with other clubs, I was always clear, fair and perhaps my silence pushed them to the limit.
“But it was the same as with the others. I was very unpleasantly surprised by his absence.”
According to RMC, Madrid’s president, Florentino Perez, was upset with the decision.
According to journalist Jose Luis Sanchez, a 50-person party was supposed to fly out, but they canceled after learning Vinicius would not win.
According to club sources, the snub was ‘historic robbery’.
According to Marca, Madrid sources have vehemently declared that ‘the Ballon d’Or no longer exists for us.
A statement from Madrid to AFP said: “If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner.
“As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.”
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