Ronaldinho says it's 'unfair' one player has never won the Ballon d'Or in football history

Barcelona legend Ronaldinho has claimed that it is unfair that one player missed out on the Ballon d'Or.

As the 2024/25 season comes to a close, football fans have already started debating which player deserves to win the prestigious Ballon d'Or award given to the best player in the world.

In last year's ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, Manchester City star Rodri was named as the shock winner of the award, having won the Premier League with his club and Euro 2024 with Spain.

However, not everybody agree with the decision to give the midfielder, including Real Madrid who decided not to attend the ceremony to protest the fact that Vinicius Jr had not been named the winner.

And now, Brazil legend Ronaldinho has claimed that he believes the decision not to give his countryman the Ballon d'Or last year was unfair due to his dominance in the 2023/24 campaign.

Manchester City's Rodri won the 2025 Ballon d'Or. (Image: Getty)

The official Ballon d'Or votes revealed that Rodri won the 2024 award after being given 1170 points, while Vinicius Jr was handed just 41 less with a total of 1129.

Yet, Ronaldinho is convinced that the Real Madrid star should have been given the award, having played in crucial role in his side winning both the Champions League and La Liga.

Speaking to Spanish outlet Marca, he said: “Yes it’s unfair that Vini Jr. did not win the Ballon d’Or because he has been dominating the most important competitions for years now, while scoring decisive goals in the Champions League finals to win them.

"He deserved the Ballon d’Or.

Vinicius Junior won the 2023/24 Champions League with Real Madrid. (Image: Getty)

The former Barcelona star also gave his verdict on who should win the 2025 award, with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain's Ousmane Dembele, Barcelona pair Lamine Yamal and Raphinha or Liverpool superstar Salah all in with a chance of winning.

"Lamine Yamal is on the level of winning the Ballon d'Or. There are other great players in the world, but he's among them," Ronaldinho added.

"It's surprising because he's so young, but he can make history by winning it not just once, but several times."

As it stands, Dembele is the favourite to win the award this year, but this is likely to depend on him winning the Champions League final against Inter Milan next week.