- The Real Madrid president slammed journalists who didn’t vote for Vinicius Jnr
- A Namibian reporter has now criticised Florentino Perez’s latest complaints
- Liverpool correspondent LEWIS STEELE tells all on bombshell chat with Mo Salah – LISTEN NOW to It’s All Kicking Off! New episodes every Monday and Thursday
A Namibian journalist has hit back at Real Madrid president Florentino Perez as he continued to slam the decision not to award Vinicius Jnr the Ballon d’Or title.
Madrid’s protests have been incessant and well documented ever since Rodri became the first Premier League star since Cristiano Ronaldo to be recognised as the world’s best player.
Vinicius Jnr had been nailed on to win the accolade after a stellar season that ended with the club lifting the LaLiga and Champions League titles but was ultimately snubbed.
The voting format for the competition sees 100 journalists from the top 100 of FIFA’s member nations choose their top five players from the list of shortlisted nominees, with different points totals awarded for each position.
Man City midfielder Rodri edged ahead of Vinicius to lift the title with the decision leaking before the ceremony and Madrid immediately cancelled their plans to travel to Paris.
Vinicius and the club snubbed their invitation at the eleventh hour and the Brazilian’s team-mates later published messages of entitled support insisting he should have won the Ballon d’Or.
A Namibian journalist has hit back at Real Madrid president Florentino Perez over his Ballon d’Or complaints
Madrid have continued to fume after Vinicius Jnr (pictured) didn’t win the award
Manchester City midfielder Rodri was instead named the best player in the world by winning the Ballon d’Or
Perez has led the club’s complaints and hit out at journalists who he doesn’t believe should be allowed to vote in the process, stating: ‘The readers of ‘L’Equipe’ gave Vinicius the favourite.
‘It is surprising that UEFA’s statement indicates that it remained unchanged. They have changed the voting system. It is surprising that being football there are countries in which journalists with less than a million inhabitants now have a vote.
‘There are journalists who nobody knows and have entered to vote this year, without the votes of journalists from these countries such as Uganda, Namibia, Albania and Finland, Vinicius would have won this Ballon d’Or…
‘The system must change and they have to be recognized people who risk their prestige with those votes,’ he added.
Now, Namibian journalist Sheefeni Nicodemus has delicately responded to Perez’s latest complaints and insisted that the Real Madrid executive is suggesting his nation is ‘inferior’.
Vinicius Jnr finished second in the overall votes that are made by 100 different journalists
The journalist didn’t include Vinicius Jnr in his top three but did still vote for a Madrid star with Jude Bellingham topping his list, Rodri in second and Lamine Yamal picked third.
Retaliating to Perez’s latest complaints, Nicodemus told the program El Larguero: ‘Basically, I suspect that these are just the words of someone who is frustrated like Mr. Perez.
‘That is, he feels that the people of my country and the other countries mentioned do not have a significant vote because we are inferior people.
‘I would just like to know, if I were from one of the main football nations and I did not agree with their opinion, what would be their argument?’