The eighth edition of the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards was held on 28 December 2017 in the stunning Madinat Jumeirah Resort, when the world’s best came together to acknowledge the performances of 2017 and celebrate the Award winners.

The prestigious and highly anticipated Dubai Globe Soccer Awards took place on the final day of the Dubai International Sports Conference. The Awards acknowledge and celebrate performances both on and off the field and were presented in 13 categories. The nominees, selected by a jury of international footballing coaches, directors and chairmen included the cream of world soccer vying for the honour of being named the best in the world in their field. Since the establishment of the Awards in 2010, the event has become one of the most eagerly anticipated and coveted Awards of the footballing year.

In a glittering ceremony Cristiano Ronaldo capped off a golden year, winning his fourth Best Player of the Year Award. For the fifth time running Ronaldo was the top scorer in the UEFA Champions League. And in a Real Madrid hat-trick, the team also collected the Club of the Year Award while coach Zinedine Zidane was named Coach of the Year. In his first two seasons as manager Zidane won the UEFA Champions League title twice, a La Liga title, a Supercopa de España title, the UEFA Super Cup twice and FIFA Club World Cup twice.

The Best Agent of the Year went to Jorge Mendes, who engineered some of the most important transfers of the season, while the Award for Best referee of the Year was taken by German referee Felix Brych, Brych’s performances last season resulted in him being appointed to referee the UEFA Champions League Final 2016/2017.

The Kooora Best Arab National Team was awarded to Saudi Arabia in recognition of their qualification for their fifth World Cup, while the Kooora Best Arab National Team Coach Award was won by Egypt coach Hector Cuper, who guided the team to World Cup qualification in 2018 after a 28 year wait.

The Sport Business Award was presented to Ferran Soriano in recognition of his achievements as CEO of Manchester City FC and City Football Group, and Vadim Vasilyev was awarded the Football Executive of the Year Award. La Liga took out the Best League of the Year.

Diego Simeone received the Master Coach Special Award in recognition of his remarkable results in guiding Atletico Madrid to winning La Liga and reaching two Champions League finals.

In the Player Career Award category it was joint honours for Francesco Totti and Carles Puyol. Totti, who spent his career at Roma, is regarded as one of the greatest players Italy has produced, while former Barcelona captain and Spain international Puyol was one of the best defenders of his generation and winner of six La Liga trophies and three Champions League titles.

The Coach Career Award was presented to Marcello Lippi. Lippi is the current manager of the China National Team and is considered as one the most successful managers in football history. He served as Italian national team head coach for two years and led Italy to the 2006 FIFA World Cup title. Throughout his career as a manager he won one World Cup title, five Serie A titles, three Chinese Super League titles, one Coppa Italia, one Chinese FA Cup, four Italian Supercups, one UEFA Champions League, one AFC Champions League, one UEFA Supercup and one Intercontinental Cup. He is the first and to date the only coach to win both the UEFA Champions League and the AFC Champions League.

The annual Globe Soccer Awards were established in 2010 with the aim of recognising not just the best players and coaches, but also the people who work behind the scenes who had not previously been acknowledged.

The great success of the event over the years has seen further categories added to the Awards list, and the event now honours all the best in football.

The award candidates have been chosen by the Globe Soccer jury, which includes international footballing coaches, directors and chairmen. Each year the shortlist for the Best Club of the Year Award have been drawn up by the European Club Association.