As the media storm continues around the awarding of the 2024 Ballon d’Or, which unexpectedly slipped away from Real Madrid and Vinicius Junior, UEFA has delivered a striking response.
Between Real Madrid and UEFA: tensions rise. Since the inception of the Super League, created by Florentino Pérez to rival the Champions League and provide greater financial stability for clubs, tension with Europe’s football governing body has reached a peak. Last Monday, matters took an irreversible turn when Vinicius Junior, who had been touted for months as the favourite to win the 2024 Ballon d’Or, was beaten by Manchester City’s Rodri.
UEFA angered by Real Madrid
Outraged by this outcome, which emerged just hours before the official award ceremony at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Real Madrid boycotted the event. Despite winning two awards (Manager and Club of the Year), Florentino Pérez, his colleagues, and the players did not travel to France to show their support for Vinicius Junior. In total disbelief over the result, the Madrid club accuses UEFA of sabotaging the victory of the 24-year-old Brazilian winger, a sentiment echoed by Clarence Seedorf.
As support continues to pour in for Vinicius Junior, UEFA has broken its silence on Real Madrid’s accusations. According to sources at Relevo, a senior official at the institution, headed by Slovenian Aleksandr Ceferin, did not hold back his indignation: “If they say something like that, it says everything about them. And then it doesn’t deserve any further comment from us,” the UEFA representative stated. The unofficial message from Real Madrid clearly rattles Ceferin’s team.
Domenech defends UEFA and France Football
Since Real’s boycott of this 68th edition of the Ballon d’Or, criticism of the club has been mounting. As former French coach Raymond Domenech told Polish media outlet Goal PL, Real Madrid’s behaviour is reprehensible: “What Real has done is absolutely pathetic. They have shown disrespect to football, to the other attendees, and to the winners. It’s downright disgraceful.”
As if that weren’t enough, the renowned French coach, now retired, denounced the mentality of Madrid’s leadership, who allegedly pressured France Football to reveal the name of the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner in advance.
“How can they demand information on the winner while the results were still secret and well-hidden? Putting pressure on the organisers to say that our player has won or we won’t come? It’s unbelievable! They need to understand that the world of football doesn’t revolve around them. Real Madrid wears a white shirt, but in my opinion, that shirt was very stained yesterday,” analysed Domenech, who also defended UEFA.
In any case, Real Madrid had its reasons for cancelling its trip to France last Monday. If the team prefers to make a strong show of support for its players, who deservedly earned the trophy, especially with Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal outperforming Rodri in terms of trophies and performances, this decision should be respected.
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