France Football magazine, the organizer of the Ballon d’Or, has explained why Vinicius missed out on this prestigious award.

Real Madrid were extremely angry after learning that Vinicius lost to Rodri in the race for the 2024 Ballon d’Or. Therefore, the Spanish Royal team decided not to go to Paris to attend the Ballon d’Or award gala to express their protest to France Football magazine and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

After the award ceremony, France Football magazine editor-in-chief Vincent Garcia spoke out to explain why Vinicius lost out to Rodri in the race for the 2024 Ballon d’Or.

Vincent Garcia said: “Obviously, Vinicius was certainly disadvantaged by the presence of Bellingham and Carvajal in the top 5. That took away some points from him. It also summed up Real Madrid’s season, when there were 3 or 4 excellent players and the judges shared their decisions with each other. So Rodri naturally benefited.

I was under a lot of pressure from Real Madrid but I have always been clear and fair. Perhaps my silence in response to Real Madrid’s questions pushed things too far. However, that is also how I treat other clubs.

This year, we decided not to announce the winner in advance. I think everyone accepted this rule but at the last minute, I don’t understand why Real Madrid wanted to change change the rules”.

France Football magazine also caused controversy when it did not announce the specific scores of each individual. They only gave three criteria for voting for the Golden Ball: Individual performance, especially the ability to decide the match. Next is collective achievements and titles. Finally, class and sportsmanship, promoting fair-play.

Vinicius was extremely disappointed when he thought he would win the Golden Ball. For many months, Marca as well as European newspapers affirmed that the Brazilian star would receive the award. Even on the last day before the award ceremony, many fans shared a picture of the vote summary showing Vinicius ranked above Rodri.

The Brazilian striker prepared a celebration party in Madrid and announced that he would give each of his teammates a Rolex watch if he won the Golden Ball. However, in the end, everything was completely reversed. Sharing on his personal page, the Brazilian striker wrote: “I will try 10 times harder if necessary. They are not ready (to give me the award).”