Ballon d'Or 2024: Who leaked the information before the ceremony?

While France Football had indicated neither the winner nor anyone else should be aware of the winner before the official 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony, the information leaked before time. A few weeks after the 68th ceremony, which crowned Rodri, revelations were made about the leak of the information.

How did Vini hear the news?

Unlike previous years, the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony has undergone a slight modification. Indeed, France Football, the media organizing the ceremony, said it would keep the winner of the prize anonymous until it was discovered by the general public, as well as the winner during the official ceremony. Unfortunately, the name of the winner was leaked before time. On the afternoon of Monday, October 28, Real Madrid unexpectedly canceled its trip to Paris for the ceremony. While Vinicius was considered the big winner of the prize, the White House has learned that it will not be the Brazilian who will be crowned. Which was confirmed in the evening with Rodri's coronation.

Getty

Two weeks later, the truth would have come out. According to the information reported by Reliefthis Tuesday, it was of course a journalist from France Football who spilled the beans. The latter would have called a Real Madrid player to tell him the news that it was the Manchester City player, who will be the winner in the evening. Having received the information, this player will have informed his higher-ups, who contacted a few reliable sources who had confirmed the news to them. To do this, Real took the decision to boycott. Several Merengue were even already in cars to join the private jet to travel to Paris. But by Florentino Pérez's decision, the cars turned around to drop them off at their homes as a sign of protest.

Article continues below

Real Madrid then sent a delegation made up of managers to Vinicius Junior's house, who was already getting ready, to tell him the bad news. The player was saddened, but the damage was done.