Namibian journalist answers Florentino Pérez's disrespectful comments: "He is just someone frustrated"

Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez commented last Sunday about the controversial Ballon d'Or victory by Manchester City's Rodri Hernández over Vinícius, Carvajal or Bellingham, claiming Rodri deserved to win "but not this year".

In the Real Madrid 2024 Ordinary General Assembly, Pérez went as far as blaming specific journalists who didn't put Vini in the top 3. "Without Namibia, Uganda, Albania and Finland, Vinícius would have won the Ballon d'Or", as Rodri only tallied 41 points more than Vinícius.

Pérez added, in a colloquial and pejorative manner, that those were "countries that nobody knows", and added that Finnish' journalist, Juha Kanerva, admitted he resigned after forgetting to vote for Vini Jr. "due to a technical error".

Namibia's journalist responds Florentino Pérez

Sheefeni Nicodemus, Namibia's journalist and Ballon d'Or voter, commented on Real Madrid president's words in Spanish radio stadion SER. "Basically, I just think these are words from someone frustrated".

"He feels that people from my countries and other mentioned countries do not carry a significative word because we are inferior people. I would just want to know if I was from one of the leading football nations and I disagreed with his opinion, what would his argument be?"

Pérez questioned the choice of voters, thinking only journalists with renowned prestige and solvency should vote, "who risk their reputation with their vote". Nicodemus actually put three Real Madrid players in the top 10, including Jude Bellingham as no. 1, Dani Carvajal as no. 7 and Toni Kroos as no. 8. Rodri and Lamine Yamal were his second and third choices.