France Football, the magazine that organises the Ballon d’Or award, has revealed the margin by which Manchester City midfielder Rodri controversially beat Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior to the prestigious individual prize.
Rodri won the Ballon d’Or with 1170 points, just 41 more than Vinícius (1129).
Vinícius and his Madrid teammates, as well as the club’s coaches and executives, refused to attend the ceremony in Paris on Oct. 28 after learning the result ahead of time, deeming it to be a miscarriage of sporting justice.
The voting report, published by French outlet L’Equipe ahead of France Football’s print version being released on Saturday, details that each of the 99 judges for the men’s award listed a top 10 for the Ballon d’Or, with each first-place vote worth 15 points, followed by 12, 10, eight, seven, five, four, three, two and one point for the 10th-place slot.
That means there were 6,633 points voted for in total, showing Rodri’s 41-point lead over Brazil winger Vinícius to be razor-thin.
France Football’s data also showed other surprising trends, with Atalanta and Nigeria forward Ademola Lookman joining Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Lautaro Martínez and Rodri as the non-Madrid players to receive a first-place vote.
Of the players who won the Champions League with Madrid last season, Jude Bellingham (5), Dani Carvajal (4) and Toni Kroos (2) all earned multiple considerations as the best player for 2023-24 by judges.
Five jurors did not select Rodri in the top 10 of their ballot, with three omitting Vinícius.
