Ballon d’Or Awards LIVE: Aitana Bonmati wins Feminin award as Real Madrid ‘boycott ceremony’ and Rodri crowned
The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner will be revealed tonight with Rodri favourite to succeed Lionel Messi
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The 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony takes place in Paris tonight when the world’s best footballers gather at the Theatre du Chatelet for a night of awards and celebration.
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham as well as Manchester City’s Rodri are being widely tipped as frontrunners for the men’s award in a year where neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo have been nominated.
But there was drama before the ceremony as Real Madrid’s delegation cancelled their trip to Paris at the last minute, after “leaked” results of the Ballon d’Or showed Rodri had received the most votes.
The female prize, named the Ballon d’Or Feminin, was won by Spain and Barcelona forward Aitana Bonmati last year and she is the favourite to lift the trophy again and become a two-time winner after 26 goals and 18 assists en route to winning the Champions League, three domestic trophies and the Nations League.
Two new awards will be introduced this year, with Men’s Coach of the Year and Women’s Coach of the Year joining a full slate of awards on an evening where legends of the game are celebrated.
Follow all the latest updates from the Ballon d’Or ceremony with our live blog below:
Ballon d'Or LIVE
Joan Laporta accepts the award alongside captain Alexia Putellas after yet another year of winning...well, everything.
Alexia invites the rest of the team who are present up on stage to take the applause.
Ballon d'Or LIVE
Two updates in a row. First the next three from the Ballon d’Or Feminin:
10th: Alexia Putellas
9th: Trinity Rodman
8th: Mariona Caldentey
And now the women’s club of the year...which once again goes to Barcelona Femeni!
Real Madrid boycott Ballon d’Or with Vinicius Jr set to lose out to Rodri
Real Madrid’s players did not turn up to the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris because they believe star forward Vinicius Jr will be beaten to the top prize by Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri.
According to reports, the Real Madrid delegation cancelled their trip to Monday night’s ceremony at the last minute when the “leaked results” of the prestigious award showed Rodri had received the most votes ahead of Vinicius and Jude Bellingham.
Real Madrid were thrashed 4-0 by rivals Barcelona in Saturday night’s Clasico and there has since been a total blackout of posts on the club’s social media channels, with no acknowledgment of the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
Real Madrid boycott Ballon d’Or with Vinicius Jr set to lose out to Rodri
Vinicius Jr had been considered the favourite for the men’s award until the results were ‘leaked’ ahead of the Paris ceremony
Ballon d'Or LIVE
A top-three finish for England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo.
Ballon d'Or LIVE
Lamine is the first under-18 player to win this award and gives a quick speech saying how proud he is and thanking family and teammates - and ending with a note about the big 4-0 win over Real Madrid at the weekend!
Ballon d'Or LIVE
Kopa Trophy contenders:
- Pau Cubarsi
- Arda Guler
- Kobbie Mainoo
- Savinho
- Lamine Yamal
And the winner... in surprise to nobody, Lamine Yamal!
The Barcelona winger has had a truly stunning year, playing a massive part in Spain’s win at Euro 2024.
Ballon d'Or LIVE
First up as usual it’s the Kopa Trophy - the best U21 player, this year presented by Dutch icon Ruud Gullit.
We get a beauty of a montage dedicated to the dreadlocked one - or he was in those days of course, no longer - who was a serial champion with Feyenoord, PSV, Milan and beyond.
Ballon d'Or LIVE
So many players with such immense achievements and performances this past year - but now we’ll start to see who gets close to winning.
Ballon d'Or LIVE
We are finally underway! Sandy Heribert and Didier Drogba are our hosts tonight.
We begin with a run-down of the top ten of each award, men’s and women’s, who remain in the running for victory.
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