PARIS — Spanish midfielders Rodri and Aitana Bonmatí won the men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best soccer player on Monday.
The 28-year-old Rodri won the prestigious award for the first time after helping Manchester City win the Premier League and being a key player in Spain’s European Championship triumph. He succeeded eight-time winner Lionel Messi of Argentina.
The 26-year-old Bonmatí retained her award after helping Barcelona win the Spanish league, the Spanish cup and the Champions League. Bonmatí joined Barca teammate Alexia Putellas in winning two titles since the women’s trophy was first awarded in 2018. She beat her teammates Caroline Graham Hansen of Norway and Salma Paralluelo of Spain as Barcelona completed a 1-2-3.
Vinícius Júnior was among the four men’s finalists but the Real Madrid and Brazil star did not come for the gala in central Paris.
Rodri arrived on crutches. He is out for the season after injuring his ACL while playing for City last month.
Vinícius Júnior had been seen as one of the favorites for the award until making the decision not to travel to Paris for the ceremony. The decision was made by Real Madrid, according to a person who works with Vinícius and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak about the player’s whereabouts publicly. No one from Madrid attended the ceremony, even though Carlo Ancelotti won the coach of the year award.
Neither Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo — winners of the prestigious individual award a combined 13 times — were in the running for this year’s prize — the first time that’s happened since 2003.
The Ballon d’Or was created by France Football magazine and has been awarded since 1956 for the men, and since 2018 for the women. It is voted for by journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings.
Each journalist, one per country, selects 10 players in ranked order, with points attributed to each position. The winner is the player who receives the most points. Unlike FIFA’s awards for the best players each year, fans aren’t part of the voting system.
___
AP Sports Writers Tales Azzoni and Steve Douglas contributed to this report.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
