CEO Ferran Soriano and Manchester City players receive the Men's Best Club of the Year trophy at the 2023 Ballon d'Or France Football award ceremony in Paris
(Image: AFP via Getty)

'Furious' Real Madrid 'cancel flight' to Ballon d'Or ceremony amid Rodri and Vinicius Jr result fear

by · Manchester Evening News

Real Madrid have cancelled their delegation's flight to Paris for Monday's Ballon d'Or ceremony, reports in France say, amid a leaked result that declares Rodri as the 2024 winner.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri helped the Blues to a fourth-successive Premier League title as well as the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup titles. That followed on from the treble the year before, and he also won Euro 2024 with Spain, winning the Player of the Tournament award in that particular competition.

Rodri's biggest competition is likely to come from Vinicius Jr, who played a pivotal role in another Champions League success for Real Madrid, with the Spanish giants adamant he should win the prestigous Ballon d'Or trophy as a result.

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But ahead of Monday's ceremony in Paris, RMC say Vinicius' camp is convinced that a leaked verdict is correct and Rodri will become the first City player to win the Ballon d'Or. As a result, it's claimed Real directors are furious and are in agreement with Vinicius that his hopes are over. And the outlet further report that Real president Florentino Perez has cancelled Real Madrid's delegation to Paris at the last minute.

As well as Vinicius, Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvajal, Toni Kroos, Antonio Rudiger and Federico Valverde have been nominated for the award. Arda Guler has been nominated for the Kopa Trophy and Andriy Lunin is up for the Yashin Trophy. Madrid are also up for Men's Club of the Year, while summer signing Kylian Mbappe is nominated for the main award for his accomplishments at Paris Saint-Germain.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti is nominated for Men's Coach of the Year, so any Real Madrid boycott of the event would represent a high-profile controversy for organisers France Football.