The question is no longer whether Real Madrid will be present at the Golden Ball ceremony, but why it continues to sulk it. For the second consecutive year, the Madrid club decided to boycott the event. No representative, no nominated player will make the trip to Paris. A radical decision, which can surprise when none of its players is a favorite this year. But to understand this choice, you have to go back a year.
The “flight” of 2024, an injury still opened in Real
The break point took place on October 28, 2024. That day, everyone expected to see Vinícius Júnior, author of a stratospheric season, lift the trophy. But it was Rodri, the middle of Manchester City, who was crowned. For Real Madrid, it is a “flight”, an unbearable “lack of respect”. The reaction was immediate: boycott of the ceremony and a murderous press release.
“If the Ballon d'Or does not respect Real Madrid, Real Madrid does not respect the Ballon d'Or. »»
This injury has never healed. The club remains convinced that the voting system is biased, influenced behind the scenes by UEFA, with whom relations are execrable from the Super League project. For Florentino Pérez, it was not only a trophy that was stolen from his player, the Real Madrid institution was snubbed.
The Vinícius affair caused the divorce between Real and the Ballon d'Or
A war of principle, beyond players
The boycott of 2025 is therefore not linked to the chances of Kylian Mbappé or Jude Bellingham. It is a war of principle. By refusing to participate, Real Madrid does not protest against a result, but against a system which he considers opaque and unfair. It is a way of saying that as long as the rules do not change, the club refuses to play the game.
This posture is also eminently political. It is a new front opened by Florentino Pérez in his war against traditional football bodies. By snubbing the Ballon d'Or, he disputes its legitimacy and seeks to assert the power of his club in the face of that of UEFA. A strategy of the permanent conflict which transforms each event into a battle of influence. The Ballon d'Or has lost its splendor in the eyes of Real. And the club does everything to make the whole world to know.
