A BALLON D’OR judge has resigned after admitting he FORGOT to vote for Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Jr.
Vinicius, 24, was considered the favourite to win the esteemed award last month in Paris but missed out to Manchester City star Rodri.
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That led to a furious response from Real who boycotted the event and refused to send any representation in France claiming they were disrespected.
According to The Mail, only three out of 99 journalists from different countries – with Syria abstaining – did not include the Brazil international in their top 10 picks for the Men’s Ballon d’Or.
One of them was Juha Kanerva, who works for Finnish publication Ilta-Sanomat – the other two were Bruno Porzio of El Salvador and Sheefeni Nikodemus from Namibia, according to France Football.
According to Marca, Kanerva picked Rodri as the winner followed by City star Erling Haaland and England international Jude Bellingham.
But he admitted that he forgot to include Vinicius in his top 10 due to a “technical fault”.
And now the journalist has announced that he will be stepping down from his position as a Ballon d’Or selector.
Kanerva tweeted: “This was my technical fault, for which I take responsibility.
“I am leaving my place as Ballon d’Or selector.”
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Real released a furious statement before the awards explaining the collective boycott.
The reigning Spanish and European champions stated: “If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to [Dani] Carvajal as the winner.
“As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or-Uefa does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.”
Ballon d’Or 2024 results
- 1: Rodri, Man City and Spain
- 2: Vinicius Jr, Real Madrid and Brazil
- 3: Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid and England
- 4: Dani Carvajal, Real Madrid and Spain
- 5: Erling Haaland, Man City and Norway
- 6: Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid and France
- 7: Lautaro Martinz, Inter Milan and Argentina
- 8: Lamine Yamal, Barcelona and Spain
- 9: Toni Kroos, Real Madrid and Germany
- 10: Harry Kane, Bayern Munich and England
- 11: Phil Foden, Man City and England
- 12: Florian Wirtz, Bayer Leverkusen and Germany
- 13: Dani Olmo, Barcelona and Spain
- 14: Ademola Lookman, Atalanta and Nigeria
- 15: Nico Williams, Athletic Bilbao and Spain
- 16: Granit Xhaka, Bayer Leverkusen and Switzerland
- 17: Federico Valverde, Real Madrid and Uruguay
- 18: Emi Martinez, Aston Villa and Argentina
- 19: Martin Odegaard, Arsenal and Norway
- 20: Hakan Calhanoglu, Inter Milan and Turkey
- 21: Bukayo Saka, Arsenal and England
- 22: Antonio Rudiger, Real Madrid and Germany
- 23: Ruben Dias, Man City and Portugal
- 24: William Saliba, Arsenal and France
- 25: Cole Palmer, Chelsea and England
- 26: Declan Rice, Arsenal and England
- 27: Vitinha, PSG and Portugal
- 28: Alejandro Grimaldo, Bayer Leverkusen and Spain
- 29: Mats Hummels, Roma and Germany
- 30: Artem Dovbyk, Roma and Ukraine
