Controversial Ballon d’Or sees Rodri win maiden award and Real Madrid boycott

Rodri capped off a year in which he won both international and club accolades in style by winning his first-ever Ballon d’Or, in a major upset that denied strong favourite Vinicius Jr his own maiden win.

The award follows a season in which Rodri has accrued both Premier League and European Championship titles, all while extending a long-running unbeaten run while wearing City blue to fifty games in the same calendar year.

Real Madrid starlet Vinicius Jr was grabbing the headlines, with the 24-year-old winger being touted by the vast majority of journalists

However, despite these marked achievements throughout this annum, it wasn’t Rodri who was being heralded and discussed by pundits in the lead-up to this year’s Ballon d’Or. Rather, Real Madrid starlet Vinicius Jr was grabbing the headlines, with the 24-year-old winger being touted by the vast majority of journalists, and even being called early by some, as being the first South American to win the Ballon d’Or since his Brazilian compatriot Kaka.

It was the shock of the revelation in the days leading up to the Ballon d’Or that Rodri would instead take home the prize that led to the Real Madrid hierarchy withdrawing not just Vinicius Jr, but its entire cohort of playing and managerial nominees, including head coach Carlo Ancelotti who won Men’s Coach of the Year. The 15-time Champions League winners released an official statement ahead of the awards ceremony stating that “If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner. As this was not the case, it’s clear the Ballon d’Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid.”

Vinicius Jr won the Champions League with Real Madrid earlier this year, beating Rodri’s Manchester City in the process over two legs, however, he fell short of last Summer’s Copa America with Brazil

Vinicius Jr responded defiantly: “I’ll do it 10x if I have to. They’re not ready”, while Ballon d’Or officials stated that no clubs were informed of the Men’s winner prior to the official ceremony, which represents an added change for this year’s award. Vinicius Jr won the Champions League with Real Madrid earlier this year, beating Rodri’s Manchester City in the process over two legs, however he fell short of last Summer’s Copa America with Brazil after losing to Uruguay via penalties in the Quarter-finals.

In the Women’s Ballon d’Or, Aitana Bonmati won the award for the second year in a row, after a historic quadruple from Barcelona last year in which she scored a career-best nineteen goals across all competitions. She also became the fourth successive Spanish player to win a Ballon d’Or after Alexia Putellas won the 2021 and 2022 editions.

No Lionesses made the top ten, with Lauren James finishing highest of any English player at 13th, while Jude Bellingham was the highest-rated Men’s player, having won La Liga and the Champions League before reaching the Euros final with England, taking home third place behind Rodri and Vinicius Jr.