Following his exclusion from the 2024 Ballon d’Or, Vinicius Junior tweeted a full squad portrait with his Real Madrid teammates and management.
Whether it was a gesture of solidarity or defiance, the Madrid winger and his companions are beaming as they pose for an official photo at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, their home field, which ‘Vini Jr’ uploaded on his Instagram profile.
Despite being heavily favored to win the most coveted individual award in football, the Brazilian winger lost the night’s vote to Rodri, the midfield virtuoso for Manchester City.
Just hours before the glamorous awards event began in Paris on Monday night, Vinicius Jr. and his Madrid colleagues were compelled to sensationally skip it due to early “leaked” news of the outcome.
According to a report, Vinicius Jr. feels that his public battle against racism cost him the Ballon d’Or and was a major reason why players and coaches chose not to attend the ceremony after finding out their winger would not be receiving the highest honor.
Vinicius Jr shared a snap of his Real Madrid team-mates on social media after Ballon d’Or snub
One such instance occurred when Madrid played Valencia, which resulted in three men being handed prison sentences (player pictured discussing the incident in a Brazil press conference)
The 24-year-old took to social media after he was confirmed as the runner-up, writing on X: ‘I will do it 10 times if I have to. They’re not ready.’
According to Reuters, this comment was a reference to his fight against racism in recent years.
However, Vincent Garcia, the editor-in-chief of France Football – the magazine behind the award – contests this claim, countering it was in fact the prowess of his own team-mates that meant further points were potentially siphoned away from him.
‘Obviously, Vinicius surely suffered from the presence of Bellingham and Carvajal in the top fives because, mathematically, that took away some points from him,’ Garcia explained.
‘This also sums up Real Madrid’s season, which took between three and four players and the judges shared their decisions between them, which benefited Rodri.
He added: ‘I had a lot of pressure from Real Madrid but, as with other clubs, I was always clear, fair and perhaps my silence pushed them to the limit.
‘But it was the same as with the others. I was very unpleasantly surprised by his absence.’
On any other evening it would have been considered nothing short of a massive success for the Spanish side.
Manchester City and Spain star Rodri took home the prestigious prize after a stunning season with Manchester City
Rodri was sat beside Man City team-mate Ruben Dias as he celebrated the award on Monday
Real Madrid picked up awards for the best team of the year, as well as men’s manager of the year for Carlo Ancelotti.
Rodri – now out for the season with a double knee injury – became the first Premier League player to win the award since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008.
The Spanish midfielder helped City to a fourth straight league title this year and was an integral member of Spain’s European Championship winning side. Rodri has lost only one club game in 18 months.
Shortly after the 28-year-old won the award, a video appeared on social media showing him wildly celebrating his achievement with friends in a restaurant.