Former Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed Vinicius Junior was robbed of the Ballon d’Or with Manchester City’s Rodri winning the prize.
Vinicius was said to be the favourite to win the 2024 Ballon d’Or through the entire month of October, however, the night before the award ceremony was supposed to take place, reports suggested that the Real Madrid star was set to miss out on the prestigious award with Rodri, who had been pivotal for Manchester City, winning the Ballon d’Or. This prompted the entire Los Blancos entourage to cancel their trip to Paris in protest at the Brazilian not winning the award.
Vinicius went on to win The Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award just a month later, and was also awarded the Player of the Year award at Dubai Globe Soccer Awards. Real Madrid legend Ronaldo was also awarded the ‘Best Middle East Player’ award at the ceremony, and spoke out against Vinicius being ‘unfairly’ denied the Ballon d’Or. The Portugal captain also added that the Globe Soccer Awards, which are partially owned by his agent Jorge Mendes, are more fair than the most prestigious award in football history.
Speaking at the Globe Soccer Awards, Ronaldo said: “In my opinion, he [Vinicius] deserved to win the Golden Ball [Ballon d’Or award].
“It was unfair in my opinion. I say here in front of everybody. They give it to Rodri, he deserved it too, but they should have given it to Vinicius because he won the Champions League and scored in the final.
“You know these galas, they always do the same thing. This is why I love Globe Soccer Awards, they are honest.”
The two-time Best Middle East Player award winner is yet to win a trophy with Al-Nassr and the hunt for a trophy is likely to continue for yet another season as his side sit fourth in the Saudi Pro League standings. With the Saudi league on break for the winter break, Ronaldo will return to action when Al-Nassr take on Al-Akhdoud on January 9.
