It seems reasonable to claim that inequalities can be deserved or undeserved only if the principle of equality of opportunity has been be previously satisfied. The main purpose of this article is to argue against desert as a principle of distributive justice –that is, desert as comparative desert– by showing that, in some cases, even if undeserved inequalities are eliminated, the principle of equality of opportunity is not satisfied and, for this reason, comparative desert judgments are illegitimate.Parece razonable afirmar que las desigualdades pueden ser merecidas o inmerecidas solo si el principio de igualdad de oportunidades ha sido previamente satisfecho. El propósito de este artículo es argumentar contra el mérito como principio de justicia distributiva –esto es, el mérito como mérito comparativo– mostrando que, en ciertos casos, incluso si las desigualdades inmerecidas son eliminadas, el principio de igualdad de oportunidades no es satisfecho y, por esa razón, los juicios de mérito comparativo son ilegítimos.