Initially, Vinicius was the number 1 candidate for the 2024 Golden Ball title and the world media also considered this Brazilian star to succeed Messi.
But at the last hour, midfielder Rodri (Manchester City) had a “spectacular overthrow” when winning the award. Coming in second, Vinicius and the Real Madrid Club were angry and did not attend the award ceremony.
Not only will Vinicius lose the most prestigious individual award in soccer, but he will also not receive a 1 million euro bonus from Real Madrid.
According to the newspaper Globo (Brazil), Vinicius has a clause in the most recent contract extension with Real Madrid, which stipulates that if this star wins the 2024 Golden Ball, he will receive a bonus of about 1 million euros.
At first Vinicius was confident that “the money was in his pocket”. But in the end, he “broke the deal” at the last minute. Therefore, it is understandable why Vinicius was very angry and criticized the organizers of the unfair election.
Regarding why Vinicius did not win the 2024 Golden Ball, France Football editor-in-chief Vincent Garcia explained: “Vinicius certainly suffered because of the presence of Bellingham and Carvajal (two other Real Madrid players) in the top 5. Because mathematically it took away some points from him… And this benefited Rodri”.
Even though he does not win the 2024 Golden Ball, Vinicius can still receive other bonuses if he wins the best player award at the FIFA The Best Football Awards to be held on January 15, 2025.