Vinicius Jr breaks silence after missing out on Ballon d’Or to Rodri: ‘They’re not ready’ | football news

Brazil and Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr, on Monday, broke his silence moments after Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri pipped him to claim the prestigious Ballon d’Or men’s award in Paris. Neither Vinicius nor any of the seven other Real Madrid nominees, across all awards, were present at the ceremony organized by the French Magazine France Football and the UEFA.

Vinicius was instrumental in Real’s Champions League-LaLiga double and was the heavy favorite to claim the Ballon d’Or award, hence the decision On Rodri came as a huge surprise to world football.

Hours before the ceremony in Paris, the Spanish opposition announced its delegation would not attend the ceremony at Chatelet Theater because of what it perceived as a snub of Vinicius.

Vinicius later took to social media after finishing second in the voting as he tweeted: “I’ll do it 10x if I have to. They’re not ready.”

Vinicius believes fighting racism led to Ballon d’Or defeat

His management, who spoke to Reuters on the viral tweet, explained that the post referred to his fight against racism and that the footballer strongly believes that it was what led to his not winning the award, saying that “the football world is not ready to accept a player who fights against the system.”

The Brazilian has been subjected to racial abuse several times during his Real Madrid stint, leading to at least two convictions for racist insults in pioneer cases in Spain.

Vinicius received a lot of support from his teammates and veteran football stars, with Eduardo Camavinga posting a passionate response. “FOOTBALL POLITICS best”.

“I waited all year for Vini Jr to be deservedly recognized as the best player in the world and now they come to tell me that the Ballon d’Or is not for him?” Brazilian women’s great Marta said in a video on Instagram.
Vinicius will look to send voters a sharp response on Madrid take on Valencia in Mestalla Stadium on Saturday.