Ballon d’Or judge RESIGNS after admitting he didn’t vote for Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr due to ‘technical error’

A BALLON D’OR judge has resigned after admitting he FORGOT to vote for Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Jr.

Vinicius, 24, was considered the favourite to win the esteemed award last month in Paris but missed out to Manchester City star Rodri.

Ballon d’Or judge Juha Kanerva resigned after admitting he forgot to vote for Real Madrid star Vinicius JrX/KanervaJP

Vinicius was considered a favourite to win the Men’s Ballon d’OrGetty

Manchester City star Rodri won the Ballon d’OrRex

That led to a furious response from Real who boycotted the event and refused to send any representation in France claiming they were disrespected.

According to The Mail, only three out of 99 journalists from different countries – with Syria abstaining – did not include the Brazil international in their top 10 picks for the Men’s Ballon d’Or.

One of them was Juha Kanerva, who works for Finnish publication Ilta-Sanomat – the other two were Bruno Porzio of El Salvador and Sheefeni Nikodemus from Namibia, according to France Football.

According to Marca, Kanerva picked Rodri as the winner followed by City star Erling Haaland and England international Jude Bellingham.

But he admitted that he forgot to include Vinicius in his top 10 due to a “technical fault”.

And now the journalist has announced that he will be stepping down from his position as a Ballon d’Or selector.

Kanerva tweeted: “This was my technical fault, for which I take responsibility.

“I am leaving my place as Ballon d’Or selector.”

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Real released a furious statement before the awards explaining the collective boycott.

The reigning Spanish and European champions stated: “If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to [Dani] Carvajal as the winner.

“As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or-Uefa does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.”