Neymar, a forward for Paris Saint-Germain, has criticized the Ballon d’Or after learning that his Brazil teammate Vinicius Jr. came in eighth place at the Paris ceremony on Monday.
Karim Benzema of Real Madrid took home the award for the first time in his career, finishing ahead of Sadio Mane of Bayern Munich and Kevin de Bruyne of Manchester City.
They were followed by Robert Lewandowski, Mohamed Salah, Kylian Mbappe, and Thibaut Courtois, with Madrid winger Vinicius, Luka Modric, and Erling Haaland rounding out the top 10.
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Neymar tweeted, “Benzema, well deserved, crack.” For Vinicius, coming in eighth place is unacceptable. He is at the very least one of the top three.
The 22-year-old Vinicius was a key member of the Madrid club that captured the Spanish Supercopa, the Champions League, and LaLiga last year.
He finished the season with 22 goals in 52 games, including the lone goal in May’s 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the Champions League final.
This season, he has maintained his form. With Madrid remaining unbeaten in all competitions following Sunday’s Clasico victory over Barcelona, he has scored seven goals in 14 outings.
The winners and the overall rankings have received a lot of criticism, as is common when individual awards are given out.
Courtois, the goalkeeper for Real Madrid, lamented positional bias and asserted that winning the Ballon d’Or was “impossible” for a goalkeeper, and there was controversy around the Kopa Trophy choice made for Gavi.
The Barcelona midfielder defeated Eduardo Camavinga of Madrid, Jamal Musiala of Bayern, and Jude Bellingham of Borussia Dortmund to win the award for the finest footballer under the age of 21.
Alphonso Davies, a left-back for Bayern and Canada, commented on the situation on social media, stating his teammate Musiala should have received it.
They may have taken away your Kopa Trophy, but they won’t take away your chance at winning the future Ballon d’Or, he said.
In addition, Musiala or Bellingham, according to Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann, would have been more deserving victors than Gavi.
In a press conference, Nagelsmann stated, “There is obviously club bias, but typically I also have my own perspective.”
“I would have cast a different vote. Better seasons than the winner have been enjoyed by Musiala and Bellingham. Those two, in my opinion, are superior to Gavi.
Gavi, though, is a really talented football player. The honor was well-deserved. For his age, he exhibits a real winning mindset.