Real Madrid knew about Vinícius Jr’s Ballon d’Or snub before Barcelona clash | OneFootball

The powers that be at La Liga giants Real Madrid were aware that star winger Vinícius Jr. had missed out on the Ballon d’Or well in advance of last week’s ceremony.

That’s according to Cadena SER, who have on Monday provided an insight into the situation.

The subject of Vinícius’ ‘Golden Ball’ snub has of course dominated the headlines in Spain’s capital over the course of the last week.

This comes after the Santiago Bernabéu brass made the call not to attend the prestigious Ballon d’Or ceremony, upon learning that the title of world football’s best player would be going to Manchester City midfielder Rodri.

The understanding, initially, was that Florentino Pérez and co. learned of as much on the day of the gala itself, culminating in a last-minute cancellation of the club’s private jet out of Spain’s capital.

As alluded to above, though, if the latest word stemming from the media is anything to go by, then several leading Blancos figures were aware of Vinícius missing out as early as the Friday before.

As per Antón Meana, on Cadena SER:

‘Real Madrid knew in advance about the organisation’s decision but decided to remain silent.’

Why? To avoid distracting the club’s attacking talisman on the eve of their showdown with arch rivals Barcelona.

Conor Laird – GSFN