A journalist has claimed he will resign from the Ballon d’Or voting jury after he said there was a ‘technical error’ with his vote.
Rodri of Manchester City won the Ballon d’Or for the first time in his career, edging out Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham. The result sparked controversy, as Real Madrid had announced plans to boycott the award after it became clear that Vinicius would not be the winner. The club’s players and staff took to social media and public interviews to express their support for the Brazilian, arguing that he deserved the accolade over Rodri.
Rodri claimed the prize with 1,170 total votes, winning by 41 points over Vinicius. On Saturday, the full voting list was revealed, showing the top 10 players chosen by the 100 journalists who participated. Among them, three journalists did not include Vinicius in their top 10 at all: Juha Kanerva from Finland, Bruno Porzio from El Salvador, and Sheefeni Nikodemus from Namibia.
While Porzio and Nikodemus have yet to comment on their decisions, Kanerva responded directly to a Real Madrid fan page and several other accounts to explain his omission of Vinicius. He attributed the oversight to a “technical error” and announced he would resign from the Ballon d’Or voting panel. Kanerva wrote: “My technical error. I will resign from the Ballon d’Or jury.” SPORTbible has reached out to France Football, the organizers of the Ballon d’Or, for further comment.
Even if Vinicius had received an additional 15 points from the journalist, he still would not have won the Ballon d’Or. Rodri triumphed with 1,170 points, while Vinicius finished in second place. Jude Bellingham followed in third with 917 points, while Daniel Carvajal (550 points) and Erling Haaland (432 points) rounded out the top five.
In the Ballon d’Or Féminin, Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati claimed the award for the second consecutive year, finishing with 675 points—well ahead of her teammate Caroline Graham Hansen, who secured 392 points. The highest-placed player from the Women’s Super League was Chelsea’s Lauren James, who finished in 13th place.
