Votes already released by journalists from the Ballon d’Or electoral college, an award given to the best player in the world this season, indicate that Vinicius Junior’s second place was partly due, as suspected, to his attitude on the field.
Even without direct mention of the Real Madrid Brazilian’s revolt against racism in football, statements from some of the one hundred voters suggest that one of the criteria established by the award organizer, France Football magazine, “class and fair play”, weighed against him and in favor of the winner, Rodri, from Manchester City, an English club.
Some of the journalists made it clear that they were unhappy with Vinicius Junior’s behavior.
“With Vinicius there is a catch, in relation to the fair play criterion. He is too vindictive and provocative”, opined Cameroonian journalist Gustave Samnick, from Notre Afrik magazine. “Vinicius still needs to mature his personality,” said German Karlheinz Wild, from Kicker magazine.
The visibility of the Brazilian is contrasted with the supposed discretion of the Spaniard. The three criteria that the magazine asks to be taken into account are:
- Individual performances and decisive and impressive character;
- Collective performances and titles;
- Class and ‘fair play’
“In today’s football it is very difficult to find players who are not on social media, who graduated from college, who have a great deal of humility and moderation”, declared Polish voter Maciej Iwański, from TVP Sport. Rodri doesn’t have an official Instagram account, for example.
The full votes should only be revealed on the 9th by France Football. THE Sheet However, it identified 22 votes that were partially or fully disclosed. “We expressly remind all jurors that they must not disclose the details before the publication of the magazine,” deputy editor-in-chief Emmanuel Bojan told the report.
The Spanish representative on the jury, Alfredo Relaño, a renowned journalist for the sports daily As, in Madrid, voted for Vinicius ahead of Rodri, but acknowledged that the Brazilian may have been harmed by his behavior. “Vinicius is a little angry,” he wrote. “He criticizes the referees, gets into trouble that distracts him. I understand that this is a deficit [em relação às normas do prêmio].”
“I respect the final decision, but I confess that I was surprised by Rodri’s victory,” he told Sheet Cape Verdean voter, Simão Rodrigues, from the Inforpress news agency. “I voted for Vinicius Junior because he deserved such a distinction.”
Colombian Pache Andrade, from Minuto de Dios radio, who declared his vote for Vinicius, was one of the few to insinuate the weight of the racial issue in the election. He stated on network He placed Spaniards Dani Carvajal, the Brazilian’s Real Madrid teammate, and Lamine Yamal, from Barcelona, in second and third place.
Other journalists justified Manchester City’s Spaniard ahead of Real Madrid’s Brazilian based on national team tournaments. The Spaniard won the European Championship, held in Germany, while the Brazilian was eliminated with the team in the quarterfinals of the Copa América, in the USA.
“I left Vinícius and Bellingham out because they had terrible continental tournaments,” said Chilean Danilo Díaz, from ADN radio. And he justified it, in detail: “Vinícius lost 17 balls against Costa Rica and I think 13 or 14 against Paraguay.”
If all 22 votes made public were, in fact, those presented to the magazine, the first place in the vote for this stratum was the following:
- 12 voted for Rodri: Germany, Cameroon, Chile, China, Croatia, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Venezuela
- 7 in Vinicius Junior: Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, Spain, Equatorial Guinea, Morocco and Mexico
- 2 in Jude Bellingham: Scotland and El Salvador
- 1 em Toni Kroos: Ecuador
In this sample, the predominance of European votes for Rodri draws attention.
Each journalist had to vote for ten names, in order of preference, from a list of 30 pre-selected by the magazine. For each vote, the first place winner received 15 points, and the others, in order, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1.
It was the first time that the magazine adopted this system. Previously, each juror voted for just five names. Furthermore, the details of the votes were revealed on France Football the day after the award was presented.
This time, it was decided to hold back the information for a week, as the magazine’s printing deadlines required interviews and reports to be carried out well in advance, causing the winner’s name to be leaked and taking away part of the fun of the event.
The result, however, was what was seen last Monday (28): the news of Rodri’s triumph leaked in the same way, and, outraged, Real Madrid decided to boycott the ceremony.
Voters’ choice also has a strong dose of subjectivity. Some are renowned television names in their countries, such as narrator Cléber Machado, from Brazil. Others are football historians.
The method of choice can be prosaic. Cléber Machado said in an interview that France Football came to his name because the magazine’s correspondent in São Paulo played football with him and other sports columnists.
One journalist from each of the top one hundred countries in the FIFA national team rankings votes for the award. Some votes generate controversy. Last year’s Argentine voter, former player Quique Wolff, was excluded this year for having nominated four Argentines in the top four positions in 2023.
Being a Ballon d’Or voter is a sign of prestige in the world. Many include this distinction in their social media profile description. For the website Pulse, from Côte d’Ivoire, the inclusion of journalist Adamah Khalil “in this closed circle of voters represents a great honor for the country”.
The day after the controversial Ballon d’Or award, the one hundred voting journalists received an email from France Football magazine:
“Dear jurors, we inform you that your vote will be published exclusively on France Football on November 9th. To maintain this exclusivity, we ask that you do not share your vote on social media or in any means of communication before the official publication. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.”
