Florentino Perez still hasn’t digested it. After seeing Cristiano Ronaldo win the Ballon d’Or and then Luka Rodric and Karim Benzema win the prestigious distinction, the president of Real Madrid this time had to be content with the runners-up of Vinicius and Jude Bellingham, respectively second and third in the ballot. It’s the fault of Rodri, crowned with 41 points ahead of the Brazilian.
It is an understatement to say that the boss of the Merengue club hardly tasted the defeat of his star striker. Florentino Perez had it so bad that he did not hesitate to boycott the ceremony, banning all his players from going there. And the businessman did it again last weekend by criticizing the vote of certain journalists.
The anger of a Ballon d’Or voter
“There are journalists that no one knows who voted this year. Without the votes of journalists from countries like Uganda, Namibia, Albania and Finland, Vinicius would have won the Golden Ball,” he confided during the General Assembly of Real. Statements which were obviously not to the taste of the journalists concerned.
“Deep down, I suspect that these are just the words of someone who is frustrated like Mr. Pérez, said Sheefeni Nicodemus, Namibian journalist chosen to vote for the Ballon d’Or, at the microphone of Cadena Ser. That is, he believes that the people of my country and the other countries mentioned do not have a meaningful vote because we are inferior people. I just want to know: if I were from one of the major footballing nations and I didn’t agree with your opinion, what would your argument be? »
