He had not yet spoken since Rodri’s coronation, and this surprising decision by Real Madrid to snub the Ballon d’Or ceremony due to Vinicius’ second place. But if the attitude of Real Madrid irritated the whole world, who did not understand the lack of class of the Merengue club on this occasion, Florentino Pérez does not budge: Real made the right decision.
Nothing against Rodri, of course – “a very great footballer who should have won the Ballon d’Or the year before when he scored the hat-trick with Manchester City” – but a lot against the jury of voters, who took for his rank at the end of a borderline conspiratorial outburst which greatly pleased the Madrid socios present at the boss’s Annual General Meeting.
“The voting system must change”
“Given what football represents in the world, it is surprising that certain countries with less than a million inhabitants have the right to vote,” Florentino Perez seriously argued. “There are journalists who did not give a single vote to Vinicius, no one knows them. Without the votes of journalists from countries like Uganda, Namibia, Albania or Finland, Vinicius would have won the Golden Ball. (…) The system must change and recognized people must have the right to vote.” (…) If the Euro had counted that much, it was Dani Carvajal who should have had it. For us and for football lovers, Vinicius is the best player in the world. Vini, we are very proud of you.”
No self-criticism, therefore, nor a single rational argument put forward like the split of votes between Bellingham, Vinicius or Carvajal to explain Rodri’s victory. Bad faith continues to do wonderfully well at Santiago Bernabeu.
