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

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.

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

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

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."

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.