Real Madrid Boycott: Why was ‘best’ club absent from the Ballon d’Or ceremony?

New Delhi: The 2024 Ballon d’Or awards was surrounded with the news of Spanish football club Real Madrid boycotting the event. Hours before the start of the award ceremony, the club announced its delegation won’t attend the prestigious ceremony held at the Theatre du Chatlet in Paris, France, on Monday.

Spain and Manchester City midfielder Rodri was named the winner of the men’s Ballon d’Or award after being part of Manchester City’s fourth consecutive Premier League title and was named as “Player of the Tournament’ in Spain’s European Championship 2024 triumph.

Even though the organisers kept it secret with the aim of not revealing the Ballon d’Or winner this time, there were reports out before the ceremony that Rodri would emerge as the winner ahead of Real Madrid players Vinicius Jr and Dani Carvajal, the other contenders for the Ballon d’Or award.

The 2024 winners list! #ballondor pic.twitter.com/kV28kY5io7

— Ballon d’Or (@ballondor) October 28, 2024

“If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner,” Real Madrid told news agency AFP.

“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,” the club added.

The other nominees from Real Madrid for the Ballon d’Or award were Jude Bellingham, Antonio Rudiger, Fede Valverde and Kylian Mbappe (who was with PSG last season).

Rodri reacts to Real Madrid’s boycott of Ballon d’Or awards

Interestingly, Real Madrid was named as the men’s team of the year, but not a single member from its delegation was present to receive the award. Instead, a video on the screen was played featuring footages of the club’s crucial moments in the last season. Carlo Ancelotti won the inaugural Johan Cruyff Award for the best coach in men’s team.

Carlo Ancelotti from @realmadrid is the Men’s Johan Cruyff Trophy winner!

Congrats @MrAncelotti! #ballondor pic.twitter.com/95ZBTRxvao

— Ballon d’Or (@ballondor) October 28, 2024

Reacting to Real Madrid boycotting the event, Rodri said the club was entitled to have its decision.

“They have their decision, they didn’t want to be here for their reasons. I just focus on my club and my team-mates,” he said in the post-award press conference.

Real Madrid were expecting Vinicius to win the award and Carvajal to be the closest contender to the Brazilian winger. Carvajal scored in the 2-0 winner for Madrid over Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League final. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today