"Absolutely ridiculous", "This is embarrassing" - Real Madrid fans slam Ballon d'Or on social media as live broadcast trolls Vinicius Jr
Real Madrid fans are disgusted by Ballon d'Or's live broadcast allegedly trolling Vinicius Junior amid the La Liga giants' boycott. The Brazilian has missed out on the men's award to Manchester City's Rodri.
Real Madrid have decided not to attend the awards ceremony in Paris tonight (October 28). According to ESPN Brasil, they feel not awarding Vinicius extends beyond footballing reasons.
The 24-year-old enjoyed a stellar 2023-24 campaign, and many envisioned he'd be rewarded with world football's most prestigious award. This hasn't happened, and Los Blancos is now at loggerheads with UEFA.
A club statement on the boycotting situation read (via Agence France-Presse):
"If the award criteria do not designate Vinicius as the winner, these same criteria should designate (Dani) Carvajal as the winner. Since this has not been the case, it is clear that the UEFA Ballon d'Or does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid will not go where it is not respected."
The feed for the Ballon d'Or ceremony mocked Vinicius amid the controversy over his snub. One photoshopped picture showed Barcelona's Lamine Yamal holding a miniature Vinicius.
Yamal outshined Vinicius in El Clasico on the weekend as Barca beat Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu. The young Spaniard was on the scoresheet as Los Blancos fell to their arch-rivals.
Fans feel favouritism is taking hold amid the Ballon d'Or gala controversy and the feed that trolled Vinicius. One fan wrote:
"The OFFICIAL Ballon d’Or stream showing this as a meme is absolutely ridiculous."
Another fan wrote:
"This is embarrassing."
More fans gave their takes on X (formerly Twitter) and were in uproar:
Vinicius Junior's Real Madrid teammate Kylian Mbappe also trolled on Ballon d'Or live stream
Kylian Mbappe also caught a stray amid the growing feud between Real Madrid and France Football over the boyccott. The French forward, who left Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, was pictured next to young fan in one snap.
Mbappe, 25, is France captain and the poster boy of French football which makes this even more controversial. His PSG exit has been marred by drama regarding payments he was owed from the Ligue 1 giants.
The new Madrid star has made a topsy-turvy start at the Bernabeu with eight goals and two assists in 14 games. He arrived as a free agent in the summer after his contract with the Parisians expired.