Vinicius Jr, nominated for this year’s Ballon d’Or, will not attend the awards ceremony in Paris today, according to Fabrizio Romano on X. The Brazilian striker knows that he will not win the prestigious award in the men’s category and has therefore decided not to participate in the event.

Additionally, Romano claimed there will be no Real Madrid representatives, meaning president Florentino Perez, manager Carlo Ancelotti and England international Jude Bellingham, also nominated for the Ballon d’Or, will skip also the ceremony.

Many had tipped Vinicius Jr for this year’s men’s award. As of this writing, the 24-year-old is still the favorite to win the award, according to Odds Checker.

However, if it is correct that Vinicius Jr does not win the award, it would mean that Manchester City midfielder Rodri is now the favorite. The midfielder had an impressive season for the English Premier League champions last season. He also helped Spain win the Euro 2024 trophy last summer in Germany.

Since Fabrizio Romano announced the news on social media, many people have spoken out about the situation.

X account @UTDTrey wrote: “This is not true,” while @FCB_ACEE posted: “This is disrespectful to the real Ballon d’Or winner.” They all should have been there. What a shame.

Meanwhile, many accounts fully support that the Ballon d’Or goes to Manchester City midfielder and Spain international Rodri.

The Ballon d’Or ceremony takes place today at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The event will begin at 2:00 p.m. EST.

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