Ballon d'Or judge resigns after admitting Vinicius Jr's huge mistake

A judge has resigned from the Ballon d'Or jury after revealing he forgot to vote for Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior. Rodri received the prestigious award at a ceremony in Paris last month, beating Vinicius by just 41 points.

The result caused controversy in Spain, with Vinicius choosing to snub the event after learning he was not the winner. No one from Real Madrid made the trip to Paris despite the La Liga giants winning Club of the Year.

Juha Kanerva, a journalist who works for the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat, admitted to making a mistake when casting votes. He did not include Vinicius in his top ten despite the Brazilian winger leading Real Madrid to Champions League glory.

When this was brought to his attention by a Real Madrid fan account on X, formerly Twitter, Kanerva called it a “technical fault” and confirmed he would resign from the Ballon d'Or panel.

He wrote: “It is my technical fault, for which I take responsibility. I am leaving my place as coach of the Ballon d'Or.”

Kanerva chose Rodri as the Ballon d'Or winner, followed by Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham, according to Marca. William Saliba, Ademola Lookman and Dani Carvajal were all named ahead of Vinicius in Kanerva's top ten.

One journalist from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA men's world rankings makes up the Ballon d'Or voting jury. Syria was the only country to abstain from participating in this year's process, meaning that 99 members of the media from different countries voted.

Rodri's triumph was somewhat overshadowed by the furore surrounding Vinicius and his absence from the ceremony. La Liga president Javier Tebas accused the winger and his Real Madrid colleagues of being “childish” by boycotting the event.

He told Marca: “I think Real Madrid lacked the chivalry which has always been one of their characteristics and which is also part of their anthem, shaking hands when they lose. A lack of chivalry which makes default for some time. That doesn't surprise me.

“It was a childish attitude, an impetuosity, call it what you want. It has already been seen in the attitude of Real Madrid TV with the videos. We see a supremacist behavior that everything must revolve around them. “

Vinicius, meanwhile, appears to have reacted to his Ballon d'Or defeat with a vengeance. He has scored four goals in all competitions since Rodri won the award, including a hat-trick against Osasuna on Saturday.