Vinicius Jr. is convinced that his vocal stance against racism was the reason he did not win the Ballon d'Or.
He was beaten to the prestigious award by Manchester City and Spain's midfielder Rodri, with his Real Madrid teammate Jude Bellingham securing the third position.
Before the ceremony in Paris on Tuesday, Real Madrid made headlines when it was reported that players and coaches had decided to boycott the event after learning Vinicius Jr. would not be receiving the top honor.
The 24-year-old responded on social media after being announced as the runner-up, stating on X: 'I will do it 10 times if I have to. They're not ready.'
Reuters interprets this comment as a reference to his ongoing fight against racism.
'The football world is not ready to accept a player who fights against the system,' a member of Vinicius Jr.'s management team is quoted as saying.
Vinicius has been a central figure in discussions on racism in football, having experienced abuse on at least 16 occasions in recent years. Last month, he suggested that Spain should not host the World Cup in 2030 unless action is taken on the issue.
His comments were swiftly dismissed by LaLiga president Javier Tebas, who called them 'incoherent.'
'I think that, if you look, you will see that his statements were not entirely consistent with what he himself says in the interview.' He told Football Espana. 'At the same time that he was saying that perhaps the World Cup should be re-considered, he was also saying that Spain is not a racist country.
'Let's remove what is incoherent and keep what is coherent: that Spain is not a racist country, and on that I agree with Vinicius.
The forward was moved to tears at a press conference earlier this year when discussing the subject.
'If the situation with racism in Spain does not improve before 2030, the World Cup would have to be moved to a different location,' Vinicius Jr. said.
'So I hope that Spain can evolve and understand how serious it is to insult a person because of the color of their skin, because if things don't evolve in 2030, I think we have to change the venue, because if the player doesn't feel comfortable and doesn't feel safe playing in a country where he can suffer racism, it's a bit complicated.'
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