A judge has resigned from the Ballon d’Or panel after revealing that he forgot to vote for Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior. Rodri was awarded the prestigious prize at a ceremony in Paris last month, beating Vinicius by just 41 points.
The result sparked controversy in Spain with Vinicius opting to snub the event after learning that he was not the winner. Nobody from Real Madrid made the trip to Paris despite the La Liga giants being named Club of the Year.
Juha Kanerva, a journalist who works for Finnish publication Ilta-Sanomat, admitted to making a mistake when the votes were submitted. He did not include Vinicius in his top ten despite the Brazilian winger leading Real Madrid to Champions League glory.
When this was pointed out to him by a Real Madrid fan account on X, formerly Twitter, Kanerva described it as a ‘technical fault’ and confirmed that he would resign from the Ballon d’Or panel.
He wrote: “This was my technical fault, for which I take responsibility. I am leaving my place as Ballon d’Or selector.”
Kanerva chose Rodri as his Ballon d’Or winner followed by Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham, according to Marca. The likes of William Saliba, Ademola Lookman and Dani Carvajal were all named ahead of Vinicius in Kanerva’s top ten.
A journalist from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA men’s world ranking make up the Ballon d’Or voting panel. Syria were the only nation to abstain from this year’s process, meaning 99 media members from different countries submitted votes.
Rodri’s triumph was somewhat overshadowed by the furore surrounding Vinicius and his failure to attend the ceremony. La Liga president Javier Tebas accused the winger and his Real Madrid colleagues of being ‘childish’ for boycotting the event.
He told Marca: “I think that Real Madrid lacked the chivalry that has always been one of its hallmarks and is part of its anthem as well, shaking hands when it loses. A lack of chivalry that has been lacking for some time. It didn’t surprise me.
“It was a childish attitude, a hotheadedness, call it what you want. It was already seen in the attitude of Real Madrid TV with the videos. We see a supremacist behaviour that everything has to revolve around them.”
Vinicius, meanwhile, appears to have reacted to his Ballon d’Or defeat with a vengeance. He has scored four goals in all competitions since Rodri scooped the award, including a hat-trick against Osasuna on Saturday.
