Rodri became this Monday in the second Spaniard to win the Ballon d’Or. A historic night for Spanish football that was marred by the great scandal that caused Real Madrid to decide to be absent from the gala.
The white club expeditionwith the players Vinícius Júnior, Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal, among others, had planned to travel to Paris early in the afternoon, but canceled the trip after receiving information that the Brazilian forward, who was the main favorite, was not going to win that award. Although the club considered the possibility of Emilio Butragueño, director of institutional relations at Real Madrid, traveling, it was finally decided not to do so.
From here the Brazilian became, although for very different reasons than what he would have wanted, he was the star of the gala. Conspiracy theories began to circulate at full speed on social media. The hypotheses range from the long shadow of Paris Saint Germain that would have pressured Real Madrid to carry out its particular revenge after losing its dispute with Kylian Mbappé to the racism that they denounce from Brazil. But there are also those who blame the defeat on the war that UEFA is having with the white club over the Super League.
Many expected the organizers of the award to give some kind of explanation for a fact that has surprised the entire football and soccer world. The answer has come to delve even deeper into the controversy.
The alleged pressures from Real Madrid
The editor-in-chief of France Football magazine Vincent Garcia blames the Brazilian’s teammates for his defeat. “Not only was Vinicius hurt by the fact that he was not a “fair-play player” for some of the 100 journalists who voted, but the fact that he had several locker roommates in the voting made him lose points: “The presence of Bellingham and Carvajal in the top-5 suffered because, mathematically, it took away some points. This also sums up Real Madrid’s season, which took between 3 and 4 players and the juries divided their decisions among themselves, which that benefited Rodri”, Vicent began by saying in a statement to L’Equipe.
But he was not happy with this statement and added fuel to the fire by accusing Real Madrid of pressuring them. “I had a lot of pressure from Real Madrid but, as happens with other clubs, I was always clear, fair and perhaps my silence pushed them over the edge. But it was the same as with the others. This year neither the winner nor the awardee were going to be notified. I thought everyone had agreed but at the last minute, I don’t know why, they wanted to change the rule. “When Real Madrid made their decision, they thought it was a bluff,” explained Vicent García.
The war has only just begun.