The leak that Manchester City's Rodri will win the Ballon d'Or has caused total astonishment in the soccer world. It's caused high-impact reactions among fans and journalists. Among them, renowned journalist and passionate Real Madrid fan Tomás Roncero has launched harsh criticism in a video. There, he expresses his frustration at the news that Vinícius Júnior won't be the winner.
Tomas Roncero speaks clearly | Europa Press
Vinícius Júnior Doesn't Win and Tomás Roncero Explodes
Roncero doesn't hesitate to recognize Rodri's merits. He highlights his extraordinary season in which he was essential for City. He recalls that he was vital to score the decisive goal in the Champions League final. He was also a key player in the Nations League with Spain.
However, the journalist regrets that, according to him, Rodri deserved the award even more last year. FIFA then preferred to award it to Lionel Messi for his victory in the World Cup, a tournament that Roncero describes as "24 days". The lack of recognition for Vinícius, in his opinion, follows the same pattern.
“Now it turns out that European Championships are worth more than the Champions League,” Roncero says ironically, alluding to what he considers to be a double standard in the voting criteria. According to him, when Messi won the Champions League sporadically, that was enough to give him the Ballon d'Or, despite his repeated failures with Argentina. Roncero argues that this decision reflects a tendency of voters to go “against Real Madrid”. For him, the votes are not necessarily motivated by Rodri's individual performance, but by an “anti-Madrid” bias among those who choose the winner.
The decision has triggered reactions from the Real Madrid board, who decided to cancel their attendance at the ceremony. Neither Florentino Pérez nor Carlo Ancelotti will join Vinícius to Paris, after it was announced that the Brazilian would be left out of the podium. The player, who was initially going to travel, has also joined this decision.
This controversy once again brings into focus the recurring debate about the impartiality of individual awards. For Roncero and the Real Madrid fans, this is another example of an alleged “misdeed” in the voting. In their opinion, objective sporting merits are ignored in favor of interests or biases.
