Brazil and Real Madrid star, Vinicius Jr., has vowed to keep on working hard to win individual awards. Vinicius stated this in a terse post on X (formerly known as Twitter) after losing out on the 2024 Ballon d’Or to Manchester City and Spain midfielder, Rodri.
Vinicius Jr. was widely expected to win the prize, only for that notion to start shifting when word got out ahead of the ceremony in Paris that the Real Madrid squad was not going to be in attendance.
Shortly after Rodri was confirmed winner of the Men’s prize at the Ballon d’Or ahead of the Brazilian and his Real Madrid team-mates, Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal, Vinicius went on social media to state: “I’ll do it 10x if I have to. They’re not ready.”
However, a member of his management staff told Reuters that Vinicius was talking about the fight against racism in his social media post. “The football world is not ready to accept a player who fights against the system,” the management member said.