Jose Mourinho missed Ballon d’Or ceremony to watch his son play football

Despite being nominated for the Best Men's Coach award at the Ballon d'Or 2012, Jose Mourinho decided not to travel to Switzerland for the ceremony. On Saturday, the Real Madrid manager claimed he would not attend because he needed to prepare for Wednesday evening's Copa del Rey round of 16 second leg clash with Celta Vigo, in which Los Blancos must overcome a 2-1 deficit.

Madrid-based newspaper Diario AS, however, have called that excuse first-class bullhonkey, as The Special One was not working at his office at the Ciudad Real Madrid training ground on Monday evening. Instead, he was spotted at nearby CD Canillas watching his son play.

According to AS, he arrived at around 7.45pm flanked by two bodyguards (who tried to hide him when they noticed the newspaper's presence) and stayed for around an hour.

Mou's snub has set Spanish tongues wagging, with most asserting his relationship with Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos and various other squad members is so frayed, that he couldn't bare to share a private jet with them to the ceremony. Others believe he didn't attend because he didn't think he would win, which is odd considering the humble manner in which the under-fire Portuguese manager said his rival Pep Guardiola deserved the gong at last year's gala.

It's perfectly possible that Mourinho was working on match preparation all day and took a brief break in the evening to see his son, but the snub has reportedly upset club president Florentino Perez, and doesn't bode well for his future in Spain.

Video H/T: 101GG