New snub from Real Madrid to the Ballon d'Or due to the 'Vinicius case'

The break between Real Madrid and the organization of the Ballon d'Or, awarded annually by the magazine 'France Football', remains unresolved. After the snub of the 'Casa Blanca' in the 2024 edition, after the designation of Rodrigo Hernández (Manchester City) as the winner, the board chaired by Florentino Pérez plans to repeat its absence at the gala on September 22nd.

The reason has to do with the 'Vinicius case'. The club still does not understand (nor will it understand) the reasons why the Brazilian finished in second place behind Rodri in the 2024 edition. The '7' of Madrid won LaLiga and the Champions League, while the Spanish midfielder won the Premier League and the European Championship, a tournament in which he was MVP.

'Vini', however, was also more valuable in the Champions League, although he completed a disappointing Copa América with Brazil. Finally, Rodri obtained 1,170 points, 41 more than the South American winger (1,129).

Real Madrid has 3 nominees for the 2025 Ballon d'Or, but none are favorites

However, there is another strong excuse for Florentino Pérez to rule out sending a delegation to the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on September 22nd. A total of three players from the white squad have been nominated for the Ballon d'Or this year.

This is the case of Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham, and Vinicius himself. Despite this, none of the three has a real chance of winning the award. Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembélé, on the other hand, are the main candidates to win the award.

For Barça, Pedri, Raphinha, and Lewandowski are also nominated. The culés also have nominations for the best club of the year in both the women's and men's categories. In addition, five players from Barça Femení are nominated for the Ballon d'Or, with Aitana Bonmatí (winner in 2023 and 2024) once again the main favorite.

UEFA also does not help to improve the relationship between Real Madrid and France Football

Finally, a third factor conditions the break and the new snub of Real Madrid to the annual gala organized by 'France Football'. Since the 2024 edition, UEFA has collaborated directly with the organization of the award, a factor that the 'merengue' board considers influenced Rodri's coronation a year ago.

Relations between Madrid and the highest body of European football have deteriorated a lot due to the Super League issue, although Aleksander Ceferin, on several occasions, has invited the club to smooth things over, his position being arbitrary and detrimental to the ecosystem of clubs.

Madrid believes that, due to UEFA's influence, voters gave more weight to obtaining the European Championship than the Champions League itself in 2024. For all this, for the second consecutive year, there will be no delegation from the 'Casa Blanca' in Paris on September 22nd. The last 'merengue' player to win the award was Karim Benzema, in 2022.

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