Real Madrid attended the Ballon d'Or ceremony merely as a formality, according to a Spanish news report, noting that club officials knew in advance that Kylian Mbappé would not win. That was also the reason why President Florentino Pérez stayed away from the event held in London on Monday night, while the “Queen’s” website and TV channel gave the event very little coverage, even before the results were announced.
“Real Madrid had virtually no presence at the Ballon d’Or ceremony held on Monday in London. The club already knew that Mbappé wouldn’t win—or at least that was the impression—since no one knew, not even unofficially, who the winner would be until the moment Ronaldo announced Harry Kane’s name. Since the club considered Mbappé’s chances to be slim, several of his teammates—and even the president—chose not to attend. Neither Florentino Pérez, nor Bellingham, nor Vinícius were present. Real Madrid was represented at the ceremony only by its director of international relations, Emilio Butragueño, several former players who represented the club in one way or another, as well as players Mbappé, Diomande, and Koukoureya,” reports Defensa Central, adding:
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“Real Madrid took no special action regarding the awards ceremony. Representation was minimal; the official website simply published a brief mention of the nominees, and there was no mention of an official delegation traveling to London. Furthermore, the club’s TV channel did not broadcast the ceremony live. The club had hinted in various ways, even before Kane’s name was announced, that it did not expect to receive any award. Real Madrid has restored its relations with the Ballon d’Or after the incident involving Vinícius in 2024 (Editor’s note: when Rodri was named the winner while everyone was expecting “Vini”), yet Florentino Pérez has lost confidence in the award. The president of Real Madrid does not intend to attend the ceremony again, although he may change his mind if Mbappé wins the award. This year, not only did he choose not to attend himself, but Real Madrid’s overall representation was extremely limited. And things would have been even worse if Lamine Yamal had won. In fact, Barcelona was one of the big winners of the night, thanks to the numerous awards it received, mainly for its women’s team.”
*photo source: AP
