Real Madrid has been doubly protagonist in the media awards of the Ballon d’Or: first because in the men’s category it was the winner, winning the award for the best club in the world, best coach in the world – Carlo Ancelotti – and because the Silver Ball and Bronze Ball went to two of its players, Vinicius and Jude Bellingham, respectively. In addition to the Gerd Muller award shared with Harry Kane by Kylian Mbappé. However, this absence at the Paris gala informatively outweighed all these triumphs. A rudeness with the scent of a tantrum that leaves the Madrid club in a bad light in the eyes of fans, both rivals and their own. And, behind all this, the Real Madrid – UEFA war (a body that is already actively collaborating in the Ballon d’Or award).
Real Madrid is used to playing finals and winning them. And not receiving the Ballon d’Or seems to have been taken as a second prize despite the fact that it has won almost every possible award in the men’s category. And, in this case, he has not taken this decision –subjective, coming from journalists from a hundred countries (the top 100 according to the FIFA ranking*) – well and decided to abort any presence of his shield at the gala held on Monday night in Paris and organized by France Football.
REAL MADRID HAS GIVEN NO EXPLANATION
Not going to Paris was an unpopular decision, generating animosity towards a club that has fans all over the world and that boasts the values of respect and nobility that its crest exudes off the field. However, on occasions such as this Monday, its image is terribly damaged despite all the achievements it has accumulated in the biggest party in soccer in a suit. Especially because he gave no explanation for his absence and left it to the free interpretation of the world press, which mostly agreed that it was due to a ‘tantrum’.
Behind all this is the figure of the president, Florentino Perez, so admired for his attitude when it comes to managing the club and his successes in his recruitment policy. Florentino is the main promoter of the Super League that wants to compete with the Champions League and this is something that has confronted him with UEFA and its president, Aleksander Ceferin. In the madridista club it has not sat well at all that in this award there is intervention of UEFA and internally it has been the argument transferred to the awardees so that they do not come to collect their awards, since they consider that they have influenced so that the award was not given to Vinicius.
MADRID’S FUTURE WITH THE GOLDEN BALL
Will Real Madrid go to more Ballon d’Or galas in the future? As of today, in Valdebebas they do not want to know more about this award, nor about UEFA. The board hopes that this fact will be a turning point for the squad led by Carlo Ancelotti to take it as a point of motivation to face the remaining two thirds of the season. The Italian coach -awarded as the best coach in the world- had been questioned during these days.
In any case, why Real Madrid has not explained its position publicly to its fans? Is it a before and after in Real Madrid’s conflict with UEFA? How will this decision affect the club’s future in this award? Has this result been taken personally? Time will answer these doubts, which are no more than conjecture in the absence of information.
*How the men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or is chosen:
The Ballon d’Or is awarded by an international jury of specialized journalists, with one representative per country, from the top 100 of the latest FIFA rankings (before the lists are published) in the case of men and from the top 50 in the case of women. Each jury selects ten players in descending order of merit from a list of 30 drawn up by the editorial staff of France Football, members of the editorial staff of L’Équipe, the best jury from the previous edition (Costa Rica for the men’s Ballon d’Or, South Africa for the women’s) and, for this edition, UEFA ambassadors Luis Figo for the men’s trophy and Nadine Kessler for the women’s.
