Hard 'stick' from UEFA to Real Madrid for its criticism of the Ballon d'Or

Published:30/10/2024 - 23:05h

Updated:30/10/2024 - 23:05h

UEFA responded this Wednesday to Real Madrid for the alleged "conspiracy" that prevented Vinicius Jr. from winning the Ballon d'Or. Although UEFA does not participate in the voting, it did help organize the award this year

Real Madrid continues to bleed from the wound after Vinicius Júnior's fiasco at the Ballon d'Or gala. The 'merengue' board has leaked to the international press the alleged "copiration" by UEFA that would have prevented the Brazilian from winning the prize awarded by 'France Football'.

Faced with such statements, the highest entity in European football responded with a 'stick' to the 'White House'. "If they say something like that, that says everything about them. And then it doesn't deserve any more comments from us," a senior UEFA executive told the 'Relevo' portal after the 2024 Ballon d'Or gala.

Although the organization has no influence in the voting, it did collaborate this year with the French magazine in the organization of the event. This year, a total of 100 'France Football' correspondents, from the top 100 federations in the FIFA ranking, were in charge of choosing the winners of the Ballon d'Or, with the exception of the Kopa Trophy.

From 2022, footballers' performance is rewarded in a season (from July 1 to June 30), not in a calendar year (from January to December). For the voters, Rodri Hernández had a better season than Vini and, for that reason, he won the award.

Real Madrid, increasingly at odds with UEFA

The controversial approach of the 'White House' to 'France Football' further distances the club from UEFA, with whom Florentino Pérez has maintained a frontal war since the launch of the European Super League in 2021. Aleksander Ceferin has harshly criticized the president 'merengue' and, since then, relations between both parties have been broken, although Madrid has continued to compete in European competitions without problems.

Ceferin and Pérez have crossed paths several times in the Champions League and European Super Cup finals, maintaining distances and forms. The UEFA president has called the Madrid president "selfish" and "egocentric", while Florentino has always hidden behind an alleged persecution of him and his club by the highest body in European football.