As reported by Fabrizio, there's a tension between the Balloon d'Or organisers and Real Madrid, a delegation from France travelled Al the way to Madrid to try and settle with Perez but as reported by Marca, there was no positive ending in the meeting. From the look of things Real Madrid management is still angry after what happened in the last Ballon d'Or, for me if truly the organisers did the right thing and Rodri was the rightful winner of the award, then why are they going to beg Perez? Doesn't this show that they did something shady and awarded it someone else instead of the supposed rightful winner! I'm just saying because why send delegates to Perez?
Maybe it's just because Real is the biggest and most influential club in the world? If Real ignores the award, its prestige will fall and its position will be very shaky, since literally a couple of top clubs can join this position and send the entire award into oblivion. It may seem unfair and "undemocratic", but that's the reality. For example, in chess, Magnus also has many privileges and has wiped his feet on FIDE many times, forcing them to endure. After the organizers of the award behaved disrespectfully towards Real, they are getting what they deserve.