Vinicius Junior set to miss out on Ballon d’Or & Real Madrid to snub ceremony

Real Madrid’s star forward Vinicius Junior will not win this year’s Ballon d’Or and the club are expected to snub Monday evening’s ceremony by not sending a single representative, according to reports.

After leading Real Madrid to last season’s La Liga title and another Champions League crown – while scoring against Borussia Dortmund in the European showpiece – Vinicius had established himself as the undisputed favourite to be crowned the world’s best male player at this year’s Ballon d’Or event.

However, reports from various outlets on Monday afternoon claimed that Vinicius’ entourage had been led to believe that the prolific Brazilian would miss out on the individual accolade. Independently emerging from Fabrizio Romano and the French publication RMC Sport, it was revealed that the Real Madrid forward would not attend the ceremony at Paris’ Theatre du Chatelet as a consequence.

The Athletic’s Real Madrid correspondent Mario Cortegana backed up these shock revelations, adding that the Spanish side’s decorated right-back, Dani Carvajal, would also miss out on the top prize and so the club had decided not to send any representative.

Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Antonio Rudiger and retired midfielder Toni Kroos were all also nominated for the prestigious award.

In the absence of a Vinicius victory, Manchester City’s Rodri has emerged as the most likely winner. While the Euro 2024 champion is currently sidelined for the foreseeable future with an ACL tear, the voting only relates to the 2023/24 campaign. During the window of consideration, Rodri helped City win a fourth consecutive Premier League title without appearing in a single defeat and spearheaded Spain’s convincing continental victory over the summer.

After Vinicius rattled in a hat-trick to complete Madrid’s Champions League comeback over Borussia Dortmund earlier this month, Carlo Ancelotti spoke for many when he said: “I think he’s going to win the Ballon d’Or for what he did last year, helping us win the Champions League, not for today’s three goals, which will count towards next year’s Ballon d’Or.” Vinicius may have to set his sights on 2025 without this year’s title to his name.