You Can’t Question My Ballon d’Or Award, Rodri Tells Ronaldo

Manchester City midfielder Rodrigo Hernández Cascante, known popularly as Rodri said he cannot understand why Cristiano Ronaldo questioned his selection as the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner.

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo said that Vinícius Júnior deserved the prize over Rodri because the Real Madrid forward had “won the Champions League and scored in the final.”

Asked about Ronaldo’s comments, Rodri told Diario AS, “A surprise, really, because he knows better than anyone how this award works and, above all, how the winner is chosen.

“This year, the journalists who voted have considered that I should win it. Probably, these same journalists were the ones who at some point voted for him to win, and I imagine that then he would agree.”

Real Madrid boycotted the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris in October after Rodri received the award over Vinícius.

Twenty-eight-year-old Rodri was awarded the prestigious individual prize after a stellar season that saw him win the Premier League title with City and the European Championship with Spain.

Vinícius had been a top contender to win the men’s prize after helping Madrid to a LaLiga and Champions League double last season.

The Brazil international was later awarded FIFA’s Best Men’s Player award and won Globe Soccer’s best men’s prize on December 30.