Real Madrid, one of the clubs with the most titles in the history of football, was at the center of the scandal after none of the team’s representatives participated in the Ballon d’Or award ceremony that took place yesterday.
Oku.Az reports that the French publication “L’Equipe” published a critical article accusing the Spanish giant of disrespecting the winner and violating sporting values.
This year, the award was won by Manchester City midfielder Rodri. He became the third player since 2008 to break the hegemony of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. It should be noted that for the first time in a long time, the Portuguese and the Argentine did not even make it to the list of nominees. In 2018, the Ballon d’Or was won by Croatian Luka Modric, and in 2022, by Frenchman Karim Benzema.
Vinicius Junior, Dani Carvajal and Jude Bellingham were nominated for the Real Madrid Ballon d’Or, but none of them won the coveted trophy. Instead of congratulating the winner, the Madrid club chose to ignore the event, which caused a wave of criticism from the football community.
“The Madrid club has without hesitation violated the sporting value of respecting its winners,” concludes the article titled “Election and moral defeat” published in “L’Equipe.”
