Featured Image Credit: Getty Images
Topics: Real Madrid, France, Rodri, Vinicius Jr
Jack Kenmare
A former manager who attended the Ballon d'Or ceremony has described Real Madrid as "absolutely pathetic" after they showed "a lack of respect" for football.
Raymond Domenech, who took charge of the France national team from 2004 to 2010, was in attendance at the ceremony in Paris as Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri scooped the top prize.
Rodri not only helped City win a record fourth successive Premier League title but he was named the Euro 2024 Player of the Tournament after Spain beat England in the final.
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It was seen by many as a deserved victory but controversially, Real Madrid decided to boycott the ceremony in protest of Vinicius Junior not winning the award.
As a result, Florentino Perez, Carlo Ancelotti and the nominated Los Blancos players – Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvajal, Kylian Mbappe, Federico Valverde and Antonio Rudiger – refused to attend.
"If the award criteria doesn't give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner," the club said in a statement to AFP.
"As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d'Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected."
Los Blancos' decision to snub the event has sparked plenty of reaction and now, former France manager Raymond Domenech has given his very bold take on the situation.
"Real is said, and Real itself wants to be said, that it is a big club. Meanwhile, it turned out that it is a small club. Very small. What Real did is absolutely pathetic," Domenech told goal.pl.
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"They showed a lack of respect for football, for the other participants in the gala, for the winners. It is something downright repulsive. How is it possible that they demanded information about who would win when the results were still secret, hidden?
"To pressure the organisers to either tell us that ours won or we won't come? That is something incredible. Especially since no one harassed them in these elections."
Domenech continued: "Real was voted the best men's team of the year, Kylian Mbappe was the top scorer with Kane, Carlo Ancelotti the coach... But no, it wasn't enough for them, they demanded the certainty that Vinicius had won.
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"Horrible, I repeat horrible behaviour from a club that calls itself great. Someone summed them up well when he said something like: "Real doesn't start a match until it knows what the result will be."
The 72-year-old added that the top three of Rodri, Vinicius and Dani Carvajal is "exactly" how he would have ranked it. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.