Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri was awarded the men’s Ballon d’Or on Monday after winning a fourth consecutive English Premier League title and UEFA Euro 2024, but Real Madrid boycotted the ceremony.

The decision to award the world’s best player award to the midfielder came as a surprise as Vinicius Junior, Real Madrid’s double La Liga and UEFA Champions League winner, was widely seen as the favourite.

Hours before the ceremony in Paris, the Spanish club announced that its delegation would not attend the ceremony at the Chatelet Theater for what it perceived as a slight to Vinicius.

Photo: AFP

Rodri, 28, played a key role as City held off Arsenal to win the Premier League title last season and was named player of the tournament at Euro 2024 as undesirable Spain emerged triumphant in Germany.

Rodri was diplomatic when addressing the issue of Real Madrid’s no-show in his post-handover press conference.

“They have their decision, they didn’t want to be here for their reasons,” he said. “I only focus on my club and my teammates.”

Although French organizers insisted that the identity of the winner was a closely guarded secret this year, the news appeared to have leaked ahead of the festivities.

Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati previously won her second consecutive Women’s Ballon d’Or after leading her club to a historic quadruple continental title and winning the UEFA Nations League with her national team.

The drama began hours before the ceremony when Real Madrid, champions of Spain and Europe, said that if Vinicius was not the winner, then the award should go to his teammate Dani Carvajal.

Like the Brazilian, Carvajal scored in the 2-0 victory against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final at London’s Wembley Stadium.

Vinicius scored 24 goals and 11 assists in 39 games in all competitions for Madrid, leading the club to three titles last season.

“If the award criteria do not indicate Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should indicate Carvajal as the winner,” Real Madrid said.

“As this was not the case, it is clear that the UEFA Ballon d’Or does not respect Real Madrid, and Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected,” the Club stated.

Real Madrid’s contingent of nominees also included Kylian Mbappé, Antonio Rudiger, Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham.

The winner of the Ballon d’Or is chosen from a shortlist by an international jury made up of 100 specialized journalists.

The organizers, the Amaury group, owner of the sports newspaper L’Equipe and France Football magazine, denied that the name of the successor to last year’s winner, Lionel Messi, had been leaked, and said that “no player or club” knew about beforehand who had won.

Bonmati, 26, joined Barcelona teammate Alexia Putellas as the only women to win the Ballon d’Or twice since the award’s inauguration in 2018.

“This cannot be achieved alone, I am very lucky to be surrounded by players who make me better every day,” said Bonmati.