After winning a fourth straight Premier League title and Euro 2024, Rodri, a midfielder for Manchester City and Spain, was given the men's Ballon d'Or on Monday. However, Real Madrid did not attend the event.
With Real Madrid's Liga and Champions League double winner Vinicius Junior largely seen as the favorite, the midfielder's selection as the world's finest player was unexpected.
The Spanish club declared hours before the ceremony in Paris that its delegation would not be attending the ceremony at the Chatelet Theatre due to what it believed to be Vinicius's rejection.
The 28-year-old Rodri was voted player of the tournament at Euro 2024 as an underdog Spain won in Germany, and he was instrumental in City defeating Arsenal to win the Premier League title the previous season.
In his post-award press conference, Rodri handled the issue of Real's absence in a tactful manner.
He remarked, "They made their choice; they had their reasons for not wanting to be here."
"I only think about my team and my club."
The winner's identity was reportedly revealed before the celebrations, even though the French organizers insisted that it was a well guarded secret this year.
After leading her team to an unprecedented continental quadruple of trophies and winning the Nations League with her nation, Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati previously won her second consecutive women's Ballon d'Or.
Real Madrid, the Spanish and European champions, declared hours before the presentation that his teammate Dani Carvajal should receive the prize if Vinicius did not win.
Carvajal scored, like the Brazilian, as the team defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at Wembley in the Champions League final.
In 39 games in all competitions, Vinicius helped Real Madrid to three crowns last season with 24 goals and 11 assists.
“If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner,” Real Madrid told AFP.
“As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.”
Jude Bellingham, Fede Valverde, Antonio Rudiger, and Kylian Mbappe were also candidates from Madrid.
A global panel of 100 specialized journalists selects the winner of the Ballon d'Or from the shortlist.
The league's organizers, the Amaury company, which publishes France Football magazine and the sports daily L'Equipe, denied to AFP that the identity of Lionel Messi's replacement had been leaked and maintained that "no player or club" was aware of the outcome beforehand.
In the absence of any club representatives, a video was shown on stage when Real was named the men's team of the year.
City manager Pep Guardiola has described Rodri as “in his position, the best”. “He can do everything. The quality, he reads the game, his mentality, he is always ready,” Guardiola has said.
Apart from his ability to win the ball and distribute with ease, the former Atletico Madrid star also has a talent for scoring important goals for both his team and his country.
In addition to helping City win their first Champions League in 2023, he also scored crucial goals for Spain, including the equalizer in their match against Georgia in the round of 16 of the 2024 European Championship.
Rodri is so important to Manchester City that his absence has been a factor in all four of their recent Premier League losses.
The GSB Hub published this content on 30 Nov,2025.