“It’s disrespectful to others” - Mats Hummels compares Real Madrid to Donald Trump after Ballon d’Or boycott
Roma defender Mats Hummels has compared Real Madrid to Donald Trump for skipping the Ballon d'Or gala. He believes that the club showed a lack of respect towards Rodri and everyone involved by boycotting the event in Paris.
Speaking on his podcast Alleine ist schwer, Hummels said that even though a Real Madrid player was a deserving winner, it was not wrong to give the award to Manchester City's Rodri. He added that the Spaniard was also among the top players in the previous season and said:
"Using the words 'lack of respect' for not winning an election is a bit Trump-like, and unfortunately it's disrespectful to others. That's the bad thing. There's no question that someone from Real would have been a deserving winner. But there are other amazing players who are just as good. And to not honour them is really bad."
Real Madrid were reportedly confident that Vinicius Jr would win the 2024 Ballon d'Or. However, reports emerged just before the event that the Brazilian would finish second to Rodri and decided to skip the gala altogether.
Real Madrid are a 'small club' for skipping Ballon d'Or gala, claims Raymond Domenech
Former France manager Raymond Domenech was furious with Real Madrid for boycotting the Ballon d'Or gala and called them a 'small club'. He said the decision was pathetic and showed they did not care about others.
Speaking to GOAL.pl, Domenech slammed Real Madrid for missing the event and said:
"Real is said, and Real itself wants to be said, that it is a big club. Meanwhile, it turned out that it is a small club. Very small! What Real did is absolutely pathetic. They showed a lack of respect for football, for the other participants in the gala, for the winners.
"It is something downright repulsive. How is it possible that they demanded information about who would win when the results were still secret, hidden? To pressure the organisers to either tell us that ours won or we won't come? That is something incredible! Especially since no one harassed them in these elections."
"Real was voted the best men's team of the year, Kylian Mbappe was the top scorer with Kane, Carlo Ancelotti the coach... But no, it wasn't enough for them, they demanded the certainty that Vinicius had won. Horrible, I repeat horrible behaviour from a club that calls itself great. Someone summed them up well when he said something like: 'Real doesn't start a match until it knows what the result will be.' They need to understand that the whole world of football doesn't revolve around them. Real has a white shirt, but yesterday in my opinion, that shirt was badly stained," he added.
Real Madrid were named the Club of the Year at the award ceremony in Paris on Monday, October 28, while Carlo Ancelotti won the men's Coach of the Year award. However, no representatives from the club were at the gala to collect the awards.