Vinicius Junior has spoken out after he refused to attend this year's Ballon d'Or and watch Manchester City's Rodri collect the prestigious award.
After news broke earlier today that the selection panel had chosen the midfielder as their victor, Real Madrid and Vinicius decided to pull the plug on their trip to the gala, held at the Theatre du Chatelet.
The Spanish giants had hoped that if their Brazilian forward was not given the nod, right-back Dani Carvajal might be handed the gong after winning La Liga, the Champions League and the Euros.
But when it was leaked today that Rodri was in fact the winner, Real reacted furiously and not a single club representative was there to watch their team win several honours at the event and their players place highly in the main list.
Now Vinicius has broken his silence just minutes after an emotional Rodri picked up the award, in recognition for his roles in Spain's Euro 2024 triumph and his club side's fourth consecutive Premier League.
'I'll do it 10x if I have to. They're not ready,' he posted on X, hinting at future successes.
Vinicius was a hot favourite to win the 2024 Ballon d'Or after his epic contribution leading Madrid's frontline to a LaLiga-UEFA Champions League double.
The Brazilian, 24, hit six goals and four assists in ten Champions League appearances and tallied 20 goal involvements in 26 La Liga matches.
'If the criteria of the award do not proclaim Vinicius the winner, those same criteria must proclaim Carvajal the winner,' the club stated earlier today.
'Since this has not been the case, it is obvious that the Ballon d'Or and UEFA do not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid is not where it is not respected.'
Real Madrid's no-show led to a number of excruciating scenarios on a heavily stunted evening.
The announcement of Men's Club of the Year saw Los Blancos pick up the honour, with the trophy going uncollected in a moment only matched for awkwardness when Carlo Ancelotti won Men's Coach of the Year minutes later.
Aston Villa's Emi Martinez earned back-to-back triumphs in the Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper after he helped Argentina to Copa America glory this summer.
Real's Kylian Mbappe bagged sixth place while Erling Haaland had to settle for fifth. The Los Blancos pair of Carvajal and Jude Bellingham narrowly missed out on the top spots.
Spanish midfielder Bonmati was presented with the Women's Ballon d'Or by Hollywood star Natalie Portman, winning the honour for the second year in a row. Lamine Yamal walked away with the Kopa Trophy.
Harry Kane picked up the Gerd Muller award for goalscoring and Emma Hayes then won the Women's Coach of the Year award.
The event was rounded off with Rodri's emotional triumph, announced by 1995 winner George Weah, which was received well by the Parisian crowd.
In Spanish, he said: 'I always said that one of my key things is that I try to improve every day. I was a traditional midfielder but when I realised I needed to get better in terms of assists and goals. You have to be like a striker because we always play in the frontal area. That is the key to improving every day.
'People don't know me much, I am just a normal guy. I try to enjoy my profession, try to be a good person, a leader, and learn every day from the best.
'I am a calm person until I get upset. I am a normal guy and try to say to my kids that you don't need to be crazy and try to do your best.
'I am feeling much better. A big big injury, it's part of life and sport. I try to look at the best part of this and be positive.'
Not everyone was impressed by Rodri's triumph, which saw him become the first Premier League player to win the Ballon d'Or since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008.
RMC reported earlier today that 'Real president Florentino Perez is furious' at his players' rejections and as a consequence, the 'Real Madrid delegation has cancelled its visit to Paris'.
Posting on social media platform X, news page MadridXtra shared a quote from journalist Jose Luis Sanchez, saying: '50 people from Real Madrid were scheduled to travel to the Ballon d'Or Gala today.
'They cancelled the trip when they found out Vinicius wasn't the winner. Real Madrid are FURIOUS. @JLSanchez78'.
ESPN Brazil even went onto confirm that Real sources labelled the decision as 'historic robbery'.
Meanwhile, Marca reported that Real insiders have even claimed 'the Ballon d'Or no longer exists for us'.
