DUBAI: Cristiano Ronaldo on Friday weighed in on the decision to hand the men’s Ballon d’Or award to Manchester City’s Rodri, saying Brazil and Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr deserved to win instead.

Vinicius, 24, scored 24 goals in 39 appearances across all competitions to help Real clinch the La Liga and a record-extending 15th Champions League last season, and he also netted in their Champions League final win over Borussia Dortmund.

However, he was pipped to the award by Rodri in October, after the midfielder led City to a fourth straight Premier League title last season before inspiring Spain to Euro 2024 success.

This year’s ceremony in Paris was clouded by controversy after it was not attended by Vinicius’ club Real, who decided to boycott it in anticipation of him not winning the men’s award.

“I really love the way they do their career, [Jude] Bellingham, Lamine [Yamal] now, this young generation, Vinicius, they do a fantastic job,” Ron­aldo said at the Globe Soccer Awards.

“In my opinion he [Vinicius] deserved to win the golden ball. It was unfair, I say it here in front of everybody,” added the Portuguese captain, who has won the award five times. “They gave it to Rodri, he deserved it too but I think they should have given it to Vinicius because he won a Champions League.”

Only Argentina superstar Lionel Messi with his six successes has won the Ballon d’Or more than Ronaldo.

The Ballon d’Or is chosen from the shortlist on the basis of a vote by a panel of journalists from the top 100 FIFA-ranked countries.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2024