Brazil and Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr, on Monday, broke his silence moments after Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri pipped him to claim the prestigious Ballon d'Or men's award in Paris. Neither Vinicius nor any of the seven other Real Madrid nominees, across all awards, were present at the ceremony organised by the French Magazine France Football and the UEFA.

Vinicius was instrumental in Real's Champions League-LaLiga double and was the heavy favourite to claim the Ballon d'Or award, hence the decision On Rodri came as a huge surprise to world football.

Hours before the ceremony in Paris, the Spanish gainst announced its delegation would not attend the ceremony at Chatelet Theatre because of what it perceived as a snub of Vinicius.

Vinicius later took to social media after finishing second in the voting as he tweeted: “I'll do it 10x if I have to. They're not ready”

Vinicius believes fighting racism led to Ballon d'Or defeat

His management, who spoke to Reuters on the viral tweet, explained that the post referred to his fight against racism and that the footballer strongly believes that it was what led to his not winning the award, saying that “the football world is not ready to accept a player who fights against the system.”

The Brazilian has been subjected to racial abuse several times during his Real Madrid stint, leading to at least two convictions for racist insults in pioneer cases in Spain.

Vinicius received a lot of support from his teammates and veteran football stars, with Eduardo Camavinga posting a passionate response. "FOOTBALL POLITICS X. My brother, you are the best player in the world and no award can say otherwise. Love you my bro," he wrote on X, while other Real Madrid players shared messages with photos of Vinicius saying "You are the best".

"I waited all year for Vini Jr to be deservedly recognised as the best player in the world and now they come to tell me that the Ballon d'Or is not for him?" Brazilian women's great Marta said in a video on Instagram.
Vinicius will look to send voters a sharp response on Madrid take on Valencia in Mestalla Stadium on Saturday.

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