‘Should have gone to a Real Madrid player’ – Florentino Pérez takes aim at UEFA & Ballon d’Or over Vinícius snub | OneFootball

Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez has on Sunday moved to make clear the frustration of he and those in a position of power in Spain’s capital, regarding the recently-awarded Ballon d’Or.

The subject of the Ballon d’Or has of course proven a prominent talking point at the Santiago Bernabéu for almost a month now.

This comes after Vinícius Jr. was overlooked for the prize at the last.

Despite being considered the long-time favourite to be named world football’s best, Real Madrid wide-man Vinícius was ultimately forced to make do with a runners-up spot.

This came as the ‘Golden Ball’ instead went the way of Manchester City midfielder Rodri.

The reigning La Liga champions responded to as much by boycotting the ceremony in Paris, a decision which was heavily criticised across the continent.

As alluded to above, though, this has not stopped Florentino Pérez, this weekend, from doubling down on his condemnation of this year’s Ballon d’Or process.

Speaking at the Real Madrid general assembly on Sunday, Spanish patron Pérez began by questioning Rodri’s status as a worthy winner:

“Last season he won the treble with his club and scored in the Champions League final. However, he didn’t even get on the podium. Rodri is a great footballer and also from Madrid. He has all our affection. But that has nothing to do with it.”

From here, the Real Madrid chief continued:

“I would like to point out that, for the first time, UEFA has organised the award together with France Football and L’Équipe. It is clear that this year the Ballon d’Or should have gone to a Real Madrid player, whatever criteria are applied, whether it was Vinicius, our captain Carvajal or Bellingham. It is very difficult to explain the final result. UEFA said that it would not change anything by including it in the award, but, damn, for not having changed anything… Surprising things have happened and I want to tell you about them.

“First of all, UEFA has altered the voting system and the points that each journalist can give to each player. The maximum has gone from six to 15. And journalists who nobody knows have been allowed to participate and from countries with less than a million inhabitants. Without the votes of four of them (Finland, Albania, Uganda and Namibia), Vinicius would have won. Some don’t even include him in the top 10! At least the Finnish journalist has recognised his mistake and has resigned. Well, look, I appreciate that.”

“They should explain on what basis these journalists are chosen. Countries like India, with more than 1,000 million inhabitants, are not represented. I think that the Ballon d’Or has to be independent and the voters, of recognised prestige. Real Madrid considered it appropriate not to attend the gala for all these reasons.”

Conor Laird – GSFN