Sports Desk:

The Ballon d’Or ceremony got underway on Monday in the absence of Real Madrid stars Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham after the Spanish club said it would boycott over a perceived snub of its players.

Vinicius was not among the nominees who paraded onto the stage at the Paris’ Chatelet Theatre where the ceremony was held.

He was featured in a video montage shown to guests at the ceremony and TV viewers.

The seven players from the Real Madrid contingent who were shortlisted for the individual award, including Kylian Mbappe, Antonio Rudiger, Fede Valverde and the retired Toni Kroos, did not show up to walk the red carpet before the ceremony began, AFP reports.

The Spanish and European champions told AFP earlier Monday they questioned the methods behind the selection of the Ballon d’Or winner, saying that their defender Dani Carvajal, another of the 30 players nominated, had also been unfairly overlooked.

“If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner,” Real Madrid told AFP.

“As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.”

For this year’s edition, the organisers had decided to keep the winner’s identity secret until the on-stage announcement.

The men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or awards are scheduled to be announced from 2110 GMT.

With the absence of the Madrid’s double-winning stars, especially that of the bookmakers’ favourite Vinicius, many observers tipped Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri to win the award for his role in leading his country to the European Championship title.

However, the Ballon d’Or organisers told AFP that “no player or club” knows in advance who will win the award.

The Ballon d’Or is awarded by a jury of journalists representing the top 100 nations in the FIFA rankings.

Real were awarded the prize for the Best Men’s Team of the Year, with a video being played on a screen in their absence.

Lamine Yamal, the 17-year-old forward who plays for Real’s bitter rivals Barcelona, was awarded the Raymond Kopa award for the best under-21 player.

Harry Kane, Bayern Munich’s English striker, won the Gerd Mueller trophy for last season’s top scorer, sharing the award with Mbappe for his exploits at former club Paris Saint-Germain.

If Rodri does win the award, it will also be recognition for his remarkable consistency — he is unbeaten in his past 52 Premier League appearances, a run stretching back to February 2023.

City are currently top of the Premier League but their chances of a record-extending fifth-straight domestic title were dented in September when Rodri suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury, ruling him out for the season.