Did Vinicius lose the Ballon d'Or because of fighting racism?

Former Liberian footballer George Weah opened an envelope with the Ballon d'Or logo on the back and the name of the 68th winner on the other side. Before Weah could say his name, the crowd began chanting "Vini, Vinicius, Vinicius", in reference to Real Madrid's Brazilian player Vinicius Junior. However, he evaded the crowd in a pre-scripted move and announced Manchester City player Rodrigo Hernandez, known simply as "Rodri", as the winner of the Ballon d'Or.

This scene was not just a stroke of luck or an attempt by the audience to add an atmosphere of enthusiasm to the ceremony, but it was an expression of a current of fans, players and journalists who believe that Vinicius deserves the Golden Ball and that the organizing body continues in what they consider to be the exclusion of black players from winning the award of the French football magazine "France Football".

Vinicius commented on the results in a tweet on his X account, saying, "I am ready to repeat it ten times if necessary, but they are not ready," referring to what those close to the player said was his battle against racism.

Friends and close associates of the player, speaking to Reuters, believe that Vinicius is reaping the fruits of his war on racism, and that "the world of football is not yet ready to accept a player who fights racism," stressing that the player and his club, Real Madrid, will continue to fight racism even if it costs them the Golden Ball.

The club had backed out of travelling to Paris for the awards ceremony at the last minute after receiving news that players Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham had been excluded from winning the award, in what club officials considered a "lack of respect".

The club won the Best Club and Best Coach awards, and its French player Kylian Mbappe won the Best Scorer award, sharing it with English player Harry Kane, Bayern Munich player.

Weah was the first African player to win the Ballon d'Or in 1995, and the second black player to win it, alongside the Portuguese Eusebio in 1965 and the Brazilian Ronaldinho Gaucho in 2005, out of 68 players who have won it since 1956, which observers considered a bias towards European players, especially with the exclusion of players such as the Ivorian Didier Drogba.

Who was the best?
But how did Vinicius' loss of the Ballon d'Or resonate? Social media users were divided over whether Rodri deserved the award or whether Vinicius was wronged. The most prominent players to interact with the event were Real Madrid players, who expressed their anger at their teammate's exclusion from winning the Ballon d'Or.

French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga posted a photo of himself with teammate Vinicius, commenting that it was "football politics" and expressing his solidarity with his friend, saying, "Brother, you are the best player in the world and no award can say otherwise."

Former Real Madrid players Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos posted a photo of the Brazilian player on their Instagram accounts, expressing their solidarity with him, while Turkish player Arda Guler simply said "shame", with a reference to the Ballon d'Or account on the X platform.

"Vinicius is the player who most deserves the Ballon d'Or. My opinion will not change," commented sports journalist Ashraf Ben Ayad before the awards were announced. However, other tweeters reposted clips of Vinicius clashing with players on the pitch and provoking others, and included in the video the criteria for obtaining the Ballon d'Or, which are "individual performance, helping the team and showing class in the middle of the pitch," believing that Vinicius did not respect his opponents on the pitch.

Speaking on the podium, Rodri said: “This trophy confirms my victory, but it also confirms the victory of many Spanish players, Iniesta, Xavi… It’s a victory for Spanish football and midfielders around the world,” while former La Roja player Andre Iniesta, one of those who never won the Ballon d’Or, tweeted: “More than deserved, congratulations Rodri.”

Rodri won the Premier League title for the fourth time in a row with his team Manchester City last season, and won the European Nations League with the Spanish national team after 12 years since the last title and was awarded the best player in the tournament, while Vinicius won the Champions League and was awarded the best player in it, in addition to the league, the Spanish Super Cup and the European Super Cup.

(Al Jazeera)