Ballon d’Or: Journalist Blasts Real Madrid President Amid Rodri vs Vinicius Debate

• A Namibian journalist has faulted Florentino Perez's comments on how he voted in the 2024 Ballon d'Or award
• The Real Madrid President criticised how some journalists voted as Vinicius Junior lost out to Rodri
• The Brazilian got 1129 points compared to Rodri's 1170 in a vote that drew widespread public reactions

It has been almost a month since the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner was announced, but the reactions from the 28 October ceremony have yet to settle.

Rodri beat the perceived favourite Vinicius Junior to become the first defensive player to win the award since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006.

Vinicius was primed to win the award after starring in Real Madrid's season, which saw them win the Champions League and the La Liga title.

However, the votes favoured Rodri, the most influential player in Manchester City's fourth consecutive Premier League title win.

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How Vinicius Junior missed out on Ballon d'Or

Real Madrid President Florentino Perez called out a group of journalists who failed to include Vinicius in their top 10 picks.

"If the journalists from Uganda, Albania, Namibia and Finland hadn’t voted, Vinícius would’ve won the Ballon d’Or. Nobody even knows who they are," he said, as quoted by Football Espana.

Namibia journalist fires back at Perez

The Finnish journalist Juha Kanerva apologised before resigning from voting in future awards, but the Namibian scribe Sheefeni Nicodemus has doubled down.

"Basically, I suspect these are the words of someone who is frustrated. Mr. Perez feels that the people of my country and the other countries mentioned do not have a meaningful vote because we are inferior people. I would just like to know, if I were from the major football nations and did not agree with his opinion, what would be his argument?" as quoted by Relevo.

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How much Rodri got for winning 2024 Ballon d'Or

Briefly News has also previously reported on how much Rodri got for winning the Ballon d'Or.

The Manchester City midfielder surprisingly beat Vinicius Jr to win the 2024 award on 28 October.

Source: TUKO.co.ke