Ballon d’Or votes spark controversy as Salvadorian journalist overlooks Vinicius Jr. and underrates Rodri | OneFootball

The Ballon d’Or gala took place last night in Paris in an event which saw Manchester City and Spain star Rodri come out on top while Real Madrid and Brazil forward Vinicius Jr. took the runner-up spot.

The event wasn’t without controversy, however. The Real Madrid entourage boycotted it after they allegedly discovered that their star would be missing out.

The vote for the Ballon d’Or winner saw 100 journalists from 100 different countries cast their votes, but some of these votes have raised a few eyebrows, to say the least.

Salvadorian journalist Bruno Porzio drew a lot of criticism as it was discovered he had voted eventual winner Rodri in 7th place, whilst he omitted Vini from his top 10 altogether.

As per Marca, the journalist has now given his reasons for the strange votes: ‘He is a player who didn’t go far in the Champions League, he was eliminated too early. A decisive player is not eliminated too early.‘

He then spoke about the controversial match between Spain and Germany in the Euro 2024 semi-final: ‘Spain won the Euro Cup fraudulently because of that handball by Cucurella, that is why I do not consider Spain’s Euro Cup valid in my voting.‘

On Vinicius Jr. he said: ‘I do not consider Vinicius Junior to be a decisive player in terms of play. He might have scored important goals, created important plays, but his movement on the pitch is in a fairly small area. He does not contribute off the ball, therefore I do not think he is a complete player.’

While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, it is certainly strange to see one journalist’s vote deviate from the norm in such a controversial way.

GSFN | Ciaran Currie