• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Ballon d'Or account produces huge blunder in nominee announcements and gets called out by club

Home> Football> Football News

Published 11:06 5 Sep 2024 GMT+1

Ballon d'Or account produces huge blunder in nominee announcements and gets called out by club

The official Ballon d'Or nominee announcements featured a huge blunder on Wednesday night.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

The official nominees for the 2024 Ballon d'Or were released but there was a huge blunder made by organisers France Football.

The 30-man shortlist dropped on Wednesday night, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, the two most prolific winners, not nominated for the first time in 20 years.

Liverpool's Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk also do not feature, along with Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.

His teammate Rodri is one of the leading contenders, along with Real Madrid pair Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham after they won both La Liga and the Champions League last season.

Another player who has been included is left-back Alejandro 'Alex' Grimaldo, who played a key role in Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten domestic double triumph under Xabi Alonso.

Advert

He scored 12 goals and assisted a further 20 in a stunning individual campaign and was deservedly named in the 30-man shortlist.

His inclusion was confirmed by the official Ballon d'Or account, who tagged the player, his club and the nation they represent in all the relevant posts.

Image: X/@bayer04_en
Image: X/@bayer04_en

Except when it came to Grimaldo, they got it terribly wrong - instead tagging with La Liga side Valencia.

Advert

Grimaldo is from Valencia and did spend a period in their youth set-up before moving to Barcelona and later Benfica.

But it was of course a mistake from the Ballon d'Or admin, with the post deleted shortly after.

However, Bayer Leverkusen's official English account couldn't help but poke fun, cheekily replying: "Please can we have our player back @valenciacf?".

They then added: "Everyone asking when he left... we're wondering the same thing."

Advert

One hundred journalists from around the world are responsible for the votes, taking into account a number of areas and achievements.

The winner will be announced on 28 October at a ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.

Featured Image Credit: Getty & X/@ballondor

Topics: Ballon d'Or, Bayer Leverkusen

Josh Lawless
Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and WWE. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has covered two WrestleMania events for SPORTbible.

X

@joshlawless_

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Gareth Bale will regret his pick for 2025 Ballon d'Or after seeing what happened in Club World Cup
  • Kylian Mbappe has named his pick for 2025 Ballon d'Or ahead of PSG vs Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo agrees
  • Lamine Yamal tipped to win Ballon d'Or as Lionel Messi told he could be stripped of his proudest record
  • Thirty Ballon d'Or winners once voted for the greatest player of all time and the results were incredible

Choose your content:

3 hours ago
6 hours ago
7 hours ago
8 hours ago
  • 3 hours ago

    FIFA has banned five football kits for life that you'll never see again

    Club World Cup finalists Chelsea and PSG have been hit by FIFA’s ban on sleeve advertising rule

    Football
  • 6 hours ago

    Xabi Alonso has found the next Florian Wirtz for Real Madrid without spending anything

    The new Real Madrid boss may have uncovered a gem in the squad who could be the next Florian Wirtz.

    Football
  • 7 hours ago

    Chelsea set their asking price for Nicolas Jackson as shock club register interest and it looks like a typo

    Enzo Maresca has named his price to sell Nicolas Jackson this summer, amid links to a European giant.

    Football
  • 8 hours ago

    Rodrygo has already told Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea which club he wants to play for next season

    The Brazilian star has been linked with a move away from Real Madrid this summer.

    Football