Ballon d’Or Awards LIVE: Latest updates as Real Madrid ‘boycott ceremony’ with Rodri set to win
The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner will be revealed tonight with Rodri favourite to succeed Lionel Messi
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The 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony takes place in Paris tonight when the world’s best footballers gather at the Theatre du Chatelet for a night of awards and celebration.
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham as well as Manchester City’s Rodri are being widely tipped as frontrunners for the men’s award in a year where neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo have been nominated.
But there was drama before the ceremony as Real Madrid’s delegation cancelled their trip to Paris at the last minute, after “leaked” results of the Ballon d’Or showed Rodri had received the most votes.
The female prize, named the Ballon d’Or Feminin, was won by Spain and Barcelona forward Aitana Bonmati last year and she is the favourite to lift the trophy again and become a two-time winner after 26 goals and 18 assists en route to winning the Champions League, three domestic trophies and the Nations League.
Two new awards will be introduced this year, with Men’s Coach of the Year and Women’s Coach of the Year joining a full slate of awards on an evening where legends of the game are celebrated.
Follow all the latest updates from the Ballon d’Or ceremony with our live blog below:
Ballon d'Or LIVE
Dani Olmo, Joan Laporta, Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi - the Barcelona contingent are present and correct in France.
Will their great domestic rivals show though?
Ballon d'Or LIVE
Now, officially we don’t know yet - we can’t see all those arriving. And the ceremony is due to get underway at 7.45pm - about an hour from now.
But the rumours and suggestions have been that Real Madrid have not travelled for the ceremony, amid the feeling that Vinicius Jr has been overlooked for the men’s award.
Whether that’s true we’ll wait and see - Rodri is his big challenger, of course.
Certain supposed ‘leaks’ on social media have the Brazilian forward still in top spot though so let’s not rush to any judgements just yet...
Ballon d'Or LIVE
Plenty of notable arrivals now, in order:
Arsenal star Mariona Caldentey, Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente, Georgia and soon-to-be Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili and...err, well, flamboyant former striker Djibril Cisse.
Ballon d'Or LIVE
A reminder of the placings so far for England’s contingent outside the top ten:
Men’s
Declan Rice 26th
Cole Palmer 25th
Bukayo Saka 21st
Phil Foden 11th
Women’s
Lauren Hemp 28th
Lucy Bronze 20th
Lauren James 13th
Ballon d'Or LIVE
Plenty of arrivals now for tonight’s ceremony which is only a couple of hours away.
15th - Nico Williams, Athletic and Spain
14th - Ademola Lookman, Atalanta and Nigeria
13th - Dani Olmo, RB Leipzig/Barcelona and Spain
12th - Florian Wirtz, Bayer Leverkusen and Germany
11th - Phil Foden, Man City and England
Ballon d'Or LIVE
More men’s rankings have landed:
20th - Hakan Calhanoglu, Inter and Turkey
19th - Martin Odegaard, Arsenal and Norway
18th - Emi Martinez, Aston Villa and Argentina
17th - Fede Valverde, Real Madrid and Uruguay
16th - Granit Xhaka, Bayer Leverkusen and Switzerland
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