Ballon d'Or LOSER: Vinicius Jr boycotts ceremony - Romano

Tom Weber

• Updated: 28 Oct 2024 14:24 GMT
• 3 min read

Breaking

Vinicius Jr and Real Madrid won't be in attendance at the Ballon d'Or 2024 ceremony, with club bosses and players convinced that the Brazilian will leave empty-handed.

The leaks were wrong, or so it seems. In the build-up to the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony, speculation surrounding the winner - at last not Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo - has been rampant.

The consensus had been that Real Madrid megastar Vinicius Jr would claim football's biggest individual award ahead of Man City midfielder Rodri and other big names such as teammates Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvajal and Kylian Mbappe.

READ MORE: Who will win Ballon d’Or 2024? Shortlist, favourites, latest odds, date and past winners

However, it seems that the consensus was, well, wrong. According to Fabrizio Romano, Real Madrid, coming off a chastening El Clasico defeat to Barcelona, are convinced that Vinicius Jr will not be crowned the game's best player tonight and will boycott the ceremony.

Real Madrid boycott Ballon d'Or

The Italian transfer expert reports that neither Vinicius Jr nor president Florentino Perez or any other Real Madrid player or dignitary will be present at the Theatre du Chatalet on Monday night.

This also means that Carlo Ancelotti, Jude Bellingham, the injured Dani Carvajal and Kylian Mbappe will not attend the ceremony, which is set to start at 8:45 CET.

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Should Vinicius Jr indeed not win the Ballon d'Or, then it seems to be completely open as to who will come out on top, but the clear favourite appears to be Rodri. He won the Premier League with Man City, Euro 2024 with Spain and is generally regarded as the game's best midfielder at present.

Whoever will win tonight, one thing is clear: Real Madrid are making themselves look like Ballon sore losers.