Franck Ribery aims dig at Ballon d’Or as Vinicius Jr loses out to Rodri

Frank Ribery was tipped to win the Ballon d’Or in 2013 but failed in his attempt to do so. The former Bayern Munich forward has now come to Vinicius Jr’s defence after he failed to win the award.

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior was the frontrunner for the accolade having won the La Liga and Champions League titles, as well as the Supercopa de Espana.

However, it was Rodri who won the Premier League – and Euro 2024 who went home victorious.

In what has been tagged the biggest controversial move in Ballon d’Or history, Real Madrid’s delegation failed to show up for the event after learning of Vinicius’ defeat.

Several Los Blancos players, including Vinicius, also took to social media to express their outrage and Eduardo Camavinga even claimed that the result was down to “football politics” rather than sporting merit.

Ribery has now join the league of players who made their thoughts known on the result . The former France international did not hold back in his critique of the Ballon d’Or results.

The former Bayern Munich star, who has long held a grudge over his own Ballon d’Or snub in 2013, took to social media to express his amusement, as he mocked the award with three laughing emojis.

In 2013, Ribery found himself on the wrong end of a controversial voting process that saw Cristiano Ronaldo claim his second Ballon d’Or.

Despite playing a crucial role in Bayern’s treble-winning campaign, Ribery failed to win the award. Surprisingly, the deadline for submissions which was set for November 15, was extended for two weeks due to a shortage of eligible voters – a move Ribery claimed was politically motivated.

Ribery eventually finished third, behind both Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.