Commercial flight & overnight hotel! Why Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal will not attend Golden Boy awards & pick up prestigious U21 prize – explained

The Spaniard has had a fantastic year — guiding his country to Euro 2024 glory and consistently lighting up La Liga for Barcelona — so the news that he had been handed the 2024 Golden Boy award did not come as a surprise. However, Relevo is now reporting that the 17-year-old will be unable to collect his prize due to a logistical dispute between Barcelona and Italian sports paper Tuttosport, the ceremony organisers.

The ceremony takes place in Turin on Monday 16 December and Barcelona had planned on sending their three representatives — Yamal, Golden Girl winner Vicky Lopez and Ballon d'Or Feminin victor Aitana Bonmati — by charter. However, Tuttosport only offered a commercial flight and told Barca that the players would have to spend a night in a local hotel due to Turin airport closing early that evening. This hasn't gone down well with the Catalan giants, who have now refused to send their three stars to the ceremony.

Last year's Golden Boy winner was Real Madrid and England star Jude Bellingham, who took home the prize after journalists and online voters combined to give him a whopping 97% of the vote. Meanwhile, Yamal won 2023's The Youngest trophy, and in following it up with a Golden Boy triumph he's emulated his hero Lionel Messi.

Barcelona's huge match against fellow title challengers Atletico Madrid next Saturday is a key reason why Yamal wasn't permitted to attend the ceremony, with Barca concerned about the amount of rest and preparation time their stars would get before the fixture. Before that, Hansi Flick's side face another key test in La Liga, a must-win match against strugglers Leganes on Sunday.