Is it possible that these journalists may be affected by some personal bias or patriotism?
Vini lost because he has a garbage attitude on the field, that's why , they couldn't simply give him the title when there is no match where he doesn't quarrel with the referee the other players and so on!
This is even what I'm thinking could be the reason why Vini wasn't picked, well we can't really tell what could be the exact reason because I believe Vini is also a very good player that many were expecting to win Ballon d'Or. Since the winner was determined by 100 journalists, I think maybe it was done by voting which he wasn't lucky to be the winner. Something is wrong somewhere that is why there is an outcome like this, Ballon d'Or in previous years is totally different from this very one.
It needs to be transparent to avoid questioning from people. Vini may have terrible attitude but I don't think it is a good reason not to get Ballon d'Or because that dude is very skilled.