Sixth edition of the Globe Soccer Awards
From Dubai to Zurich the confirmation: whoever wins in the Emirates wins the Ballon d’Or
Dubai- Sixth edition of the Awards and Spain is still leading the way. After Real Madrid, with Florentino Perez, Carlo Ancelotti, Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez, the stars in 2014, the 2015edition of Globe Soccer turned the spotlight from the United Arab Emirates on to Barcelona, the champions of Spain, Europe and the World. Chairman Bartomeu and Lionel Messi collected four awards (Best President, Best Player, Best Club and Best Media Attraction) representing the only team which has managed to win club of the year twice since the award was created (the first time Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona took the main prize).
Lionel Messi, who is acknowledged as the best number 10 in the world, wrote his name in the annals of the award and, just like Cristiano Ronaldo, two weeks after on 11 January 2016, took the FIFA award, the Ballon d’Or. The Award in Dubai foreshadowing the latter is becoming a kind of tradition, almost the passing of the baton to the game’s top award.
Alongside Barcelona and Spain, the 2015 edition also celebrated the careers of two great champions, Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard, indicating Irmatov as the best referee of the year and Marc Wilmots, the Belgium manager, as the best coach, thanks to the first place he has gained with his national team in the FIFA ranking.
Benfica took the Award for its work with young players and another Portuguese, Jorge Mendes, managed the extraordinary feat of running up his sixth consecutive award out of six editions, obtaining his latest Award as Best Agent.
The novelty in 2015 came from the Gulf, with the Award in which Kooora.com had a key role as did the thousands of fans who sanctioned the victory of Yasir Al Shahrani in the competition for the award as Best GCC Player of the year. A 2-month survey involved 66 players representing 6 countries and will become a set appointment for the Globe Soccer Awards.
These were the main categories at the Globe Soccer Awards 2015:
- Best Academy of the Year;
- Best Referee of the Year;
- Best GCC Player of the Year – presented by Kooora;
- Player Career Award;
- Best Agent of the Year;
- Best Coach of the Year;
- Best Media Attraction in Football – presented by Dubai Sports Channel;
- Best Club of the Year;
- Best President of the Year;
- Best Player of the Year.
The award candidates have been chosen by the Globe Soccer jury, which includes international footballing coaches, directors and chairmans . As every year, the shortlists for the awards for best club and best agent of the year have been drawn up by the ECA and by the EFAA.
The shortlist, as approved the ECA Executive Board, is as follows (in alphabetical order):
FC Barcelona
(Spain), for having won the domestic championship and cup, as wellas the 2014/15 Champions League and the European SuperCup.
FC Bayern München
(Germany), for having won the domestic Championship and having reached the Champions League semi-finals.
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
(Ukraine), despite the difficult political situation and having to play the home games 500km away in Kiev, the club reached the final of the 2014/15 Europa League.
Juventus
(Italy), for having won the domestic Championship, domestic cup andhaving reached the final of the 2014/15 Champions League.
Paris Saint-Germain
(France), for having won the domestic championship and having reached the quarter-finals of the 2014/15 Champions League.
CONCACAF, Aguilar (Salvador)
UEFA, Cakir (Turkey)
CAF, Gassama (Gambia)
OFC, Hauata (Tahiti)
AFC, Irmatov (Uzbekistan)
CONMEBOL, Roldan (Colombia)
The selection made by EFAA, the European association for agents and Globe Soccer is:
Giovanni Branchini
Fali Ramadani
Ahmet Bulut
Jorge Mendes
Patrick de Koster
Presented by Kooora
Mohammed Al Sahlawi
Omar Abdulrahman
Yasir Alshahrani
Cristiano Ronaldo
Gianluigi Buffon
Lionel Messi
