Real Madrid raises its crusade against the world

Real Madrid raises its crusade against the world. The indignation felt by the Chamartín club after Vinicius was left on Monday without a Ballon d’Or that he took for granted opens another battle front in the war it maintains against the organizations that govern football. France Football, the magazine that organized the trophy, and L’Équipe, the leading newspaper in the French sports press that belongs to the same company, join a long list of enemies headed by UEFA and of which LaLiga, the Federation are also part Española de Fútbol and its appendix of the Technical Committee of Referees or FIFA, the latter’s ally of convenience in some matters but with respect to which it has divergent interests in others. Without forgetting, of course, their traditional sporting rivals, with Barça and Atlético in the front line, or the residents of the Bernabéu who have taken the entity to court and forced it to suspend the concerts it had scheduled.

Real Madrid’s decision not to attend the Ballon d’Or gala sparked stupor and widespread condemnation. Media outlets from all over reproach what they consider a tantrum on the part of the entity chaired by Florentino Pérez, which they denounce for its lack of decorum and inability to accept the setbacks that come its way. The rejection of the prestigious trophy was received as a stab by France Football and L’Équipe, which attacks the lack of “class” demonstrated by the whites and accuses them of “trampling” the chivalry with which defeats should be accepted. An unavoidable value in sport and in life that was praised by the old Real Madrid anthem. “When he loses, he shakes hands, without envy or resentment…”, went that little tune whose lyrics directly clash with the spirit they displayed in Chamartín when canceling the trip they had scheduled to Paris.

Real Madrid was not faithful to that motto, caught out of hand by an unexpected outcome for almost everyone and which it did not know how to face while maintaining its type. The club is behind what happened to the black hand of UEFA, a partner of France Football in the awarding of the Ballon d’Or since this year and with which Florentino Pérez maintains a tough confrontation on behalf of the Super League. This tournament, Real Madrid’s main workhorse, constitutes an existential threat to the status quo that the organization chaired by Aleksander Ceferin tries to maintain at all costs, but it is far from seeing the light due to the lack of support among the rest of the majors. European clubs, despite the fact that the courts gave him encouragement by establishing that those who participate in the project cannot be punished.

The truth, however, is that the method of choosing the Ballon d’Or obeys the criteria of one hundred journalists from all over the world who freely choose who they vote according to rules established in advance and UEFA has nothing to say there.

Solo

Real Madrid allowed itself to be carried away by a state of mind, without taking into account that this time the organizers had imposed absolute secrecy to avoid what happened in previous editions in which illustrious figures such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi refused to attend the Ballon d’Or gala. I pray knowing in advance that they were not going to win the trophy. The uncertainty was then shattered by the previous report with the winner carried out by France Football, which this time managed to maintain the suspense until a few hours before the event began and the intrigue exploded when it was learned that Real Madrid was staying on the ground for the alleged snub to Vinicius.

Real Madrid breaks its ties, at least for the moment, with an award that has always been one of its main objects of desire and feels persecuted by everyone. It collides head-on with LaLiga because of the Super League, because of the pact with CVC and a host of other issues. There is also no harmony with the Spanish Football Federation, whose Technical Committee of Referees is the favorite target of Real Madrid Television. Relations with Barça, despite still going hand in hand in the Super League issue, seriously deteriorated due to the ‘Negreira case’. And the incendiary derbies with Atlético have further muddied waters that were already in turmoil. With FIFA there is less tension, but the Club World Cup is not fully convincing either. Everything responds to a matter of money, as in so many cases, but Real Madrid is left alone in too many battles.