Real Madrid President Florentino Perez Criticized By Journalists About The Dispute Between The Ballon D'Or

Florentino Perez (right) was criticized by reporters for not accepting Vinicius Junior not winning the 2024 Ballon d'Or (Instagram/@realmadrid).

JAKARTA - A Namibia journalist criticized by Florentino Perez for not choosing Vinicius Junior to win the 2024 Ballon d'Or has retaliated against the Real Madrid president.

Madrid boycotted the Ballon d'Or ceremony in Paris last month for the decision to award the award - which was chosen by a panel of 100 international journalists - to Manchester City midfielder Rodri, rather than Vinicius.

In his speech during the Real Madrid Annual General Meeting on Sunday, December 1, 2024, Perez specifically criticized the voices of journalists from Namibia, Uganda, Albania, and Finland, saying no one knew who (the journalists) were.

Perez also argues that the Ballon d'Or should be organized independently and selected by famous people.

"Basically, I suspect it's just words from someone who's frustrated, namely Mr. Perez," journalist Sheefeni Badminton told El Larguero at Cadena SER on Monday, December 2, 2024.

"If he feels people from my country, and the other countries mentioned don't have significant votes, because we are inferiors, I just want to know."

"If I come from one of the leading football countries and I don't agree with his opinion, what's his argument?" said another.

Vinicius is one of the leading candidates to win the 2024 Ballon d'Or thanks to his performances last season when Real Madrid won La Liga and Champions League titles.

However, he performed poorly for the Brazilian national team at the Copa America last summer. Meanwhile, Rodri became a star when the Spanish national team won Euro 2024.

In voting--involving journalists who rank the top 10 players from short lists, with each given between 15 and 1 point--Rodri got a total of 1,170 points, ahead of Vinicius who got 1,129 points.

Los Blancos' Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal are in third and fourth place in the poll.

When it was discovered that Vinicius would not accept the award, Real Madrid decided to collectively miss the ceremony, hosted by France Football and for the first time this year with UEFA.

In fact, Real Madrid won the award as Team of the Year and Carlo Ancelotti was named the Best Coach.

As a result, not a single Los Blancos representative symbolically received the two awards.

After the award ceremony, it turned out that the polemic did not stop. Many supports flowed to Vinicius, especially from Los Blancos and Brazil's national team players.

Florentino Perez has also yet to accept that Vinicius has not won the 2024 Ballon d'Or.

Still on the agenda of the Real Madrid Annual General Meeting, Perez even issued questions about the decision.

In addition, he emphasized that the Ballon d'Or should be held independently and involve well-known people.

"Rodri is a great player, he comes from Madrid, and we love him. He deserves the Ballon d'Or, but not this one."

"He deserved it the previous year. This year, the Ballon d'Or should have been awarded to Real Madrid players, Vinicius, or our captain Dani Carvajal, or even Jude Bellingham."

"Some (elections) don't even include Vinicius in the top 10. Can anyone understand why journalists don't think Vinicius is one of the best in the world?"

"Without Namibia, Uganda, Albania, and Finland, Vinicius will win the Ballon d'Or. These countries don't even choose Vinicius. None! The Finnish voter, at least, has resigned."

"Personally, I think the Ballon d'Or should be held independently. Voting must be in the hands of famous and prestigious people with reputation in the world of football," said Perez again.