Vinicius Junior (foto: Getty Images)
Finnish journalist Juha Kanerva, who left Vinicius Junior out of his Ballon d'Or top ten, announces his resignation from the voting panel after admitting his mistake.
In an unusual turn of events, Juha Kanerva, a Finnish journalist from Ilta-Sanomat, publicly admitted to a significant error in his Ballon d'Or 2024 voting. His oversight—failing to include Vinicius Junior in his top ten—may have impacted the close results, where Rodri ultimately won the award over Vinicius by just 41 points.
The mistake was revealed on X.com (formerly Twitter) after a Madrid fan account pointed out that Kanerva was one of only three jury members who omitted Vinicius from their top ten. In response, Kanerva acknowledged his "technical error" and announced his intention to resign from the prestigious jury: "My technical error. I will step down from the Ballon d'Or jury," he wrote.
Kanerva’s vote stands out not only because of the omission of Vinicius but also because he was the only juror to place Rodri in first position. Out of 99 journalists voting in this year’s Ballon d'Or (with Syria abstaining), Kanerva was the lone voice favoring Rodri for the top spot, while others like Sheefeni Nikodemus from Namibia and Bruno Porzio from El Salvador opted for Jude Bellingham as their winner. In contrast, Porzio ranked Rodri down at seventh.
Kanerva’s Ballon d'Or 2024 top ten included:
- Rodri – 15 points
- Erling Haaland – 12 points
- Jude Bellingham – 10 points
- Toni Kroos – 8 points
- Florian Wirtz – 7 points
- Declan Rice – 5 points
- Lamine Yamal – 4 points
- William Saliba – 3 points
- Ademola Lookman – 2 points
- Dani Carvajal – 1 point