- Five prestigious new award editions will be held across four continents in 2024 as part of inaugural ‘Road to Dubai’
- Seasonal continental editions to recognise world football industry talents, with all territory winners qualifying for Dubai Globe Soccer Awards 2024
- Globe Soccer CEO says expansion into Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and wider Middle East follows the worldwide growth of the beautiful game, and the international success of the annual Dubai Globe Soccer Awards, which counts Messi and Ronaldo as past winners
- Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council praises new Road to Dubai for providing a platform to acknowledge and honour talent from various continents, while Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano says it will ‘benefit the globalisation of the game’
Dubai, UAE, July 11, 2023: Globe Soccer, the organisers of the prestigious Dubai Globe Soccer Awards that annually attracts some of the most recognisable names in world football, today confirmed plans to expand the concept internationally with five new ceremonies across four continents in 2024.
Billed as the ‘Road to Dubai’, the new Globe Soccer Intercontinental Series will feature a quintet of standalone award editions covering Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East next year, with specific details of each territory’s seasonal awards set to be revealed in coming months.
The winners of each of the continental main awards – for example Best Men’s Player, Best Women’s Player, Best Club, Best Agent – will automatically qualify as finalists for the annual Dubai Globe Soccer Awards, in partnership with Dubai Sports Council.
“For 13 years, the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards has helped bring the football world to the emirate,” said Tommaso Bendoni, the founder and CEO of Globe Soccer, which is headquartered in Dubai. “In recent years, we have seen huge growth in terms of the number of awards, and also the number of fan votes and media coverage. We believe now is the time for us to take the show – and Dubai – to the world.
“The Intercontinental Series will provide greater opportunities for those operating in global football, as well as allowing us to engage with even more fans. The year-long ‘Road to Dubai’ programme has been designed to ensure the ultimate focus remains on the emirate, while also enabling us to recognise clubs, players, coaches and managers, agents, directors, scouts, and other stakeholders from every corner of the world.”
An annual celebration of the beautiful game, the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards provides a voice to worldwide soccer fans, who vote to shortlist players, coaches, clubs and more. Since the inaugural event in 2010, the number of awards distributed has increased from three to 21, with recent additions including the Power Horse Emerging Player of the Year, Best Youth Team, and Best Transfer Deal. Last year, more than 33 million fan votes decided the shortlisted nominees, before a judging panel of experts crowned Karim Benzema and Alexia Putellas as the Best Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year, respectively.
His Excellency Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council, said: “We are proud of our partnership with the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards. This partnership commenced with the inauguration of the event as a significant occasion rooted in Dubai, but with global reach. Today, it has become one of the most prestigious events in world football, serving as a gathering for football stars and decision-makers.
“The new ‘Road to Dubai’ awards format enables us to acknowledge and honour a greater number of stars from various continents, thus highlighting their achievements. Moreover, it offers the winners a chance to take part in the main ceremony in Dubai. This development aligns with the award’s growth, evolution, international reputation, and influence in global football.”
Ferran Soriano, the CEO of European champions Manchester City and the City Football Group, sits on the event’s judging panel. Soriano believes having the winners of the five new standalone events automatically shortlisted for the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards will provide timely recognition of talents operating in regions often neglected by such awards and organisations.
“The Globe Soccer Intercontinental Series will recognise all manner of professionals working in the game, including those operating in underrepresented regions,” said Soriano. “As CEO of City Football Group, which operates in a range of international markets from Uruguay to China, I have seen first-hand the wealth of talent working in football around the world. In acknowledging the work of these people and providing them the chance to travel to Dubai and network within the industry, Globe Soccer can directly and significantly benefit the careers of these people and indirectly, further globalisation of the game.
Previous attendees at the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards read like an elite gathering of the world’s most prominent football stars, from Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, and Robert Lewandowksi to Pep Guardiola, Zinedine Zidane, Jose Mourinho, and the late Diego Maradona.
For more information on the Intercontinental Series and to view previous winners of the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards, visit globesoccer.com.
About Globe Soccer
Globe Soccer is a Dubai-based football organisation that since 2010 has coordinated one of the most eagerly awaited and coveted awards ceremonies on the footballing calendar: The Dubai Globe Soccer Awards. Attracting high-profile attendees each year, the international event is unique in that it recognises and rewards all stakeholders in the game, from players to chairmen, fans to agents, directors to referees. Global reach has grown year-on-year, with the 2022 event proving no exception, surpassing all previous records with the number of awards increasing to 21, fan votes exceeding 47 million, and social media followers passing 6.5 million.
About Dubai Sports Council
Founded on November 30, 2005, following a decree by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Dubai Sports Council is the official body responsible for the development of the sports sector in the Emirate.
Today, under the guidance of its Chairman, His Highness Sheikh Mansoor Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the DSC organises and supports more than 400 events annually – not just top-notch sporting extravaganzas, but also awards and conferences that promote excellence, creativity and innovation in the world of sports.
The Council supervises the work of Dubai’s seven local sports clubs and also takes active interest in encouraging the practice of physical activity in society, especially among women and children, through programs and activities designed to create awareness about the importance of sport and physical activity, and to make it a way of life for the community.
The DSC’s mandate, though, is not just to promote sport, create awareness and nurture talent, but to also support creativity and reward excellence, among both individuals and organisations and help Dubai become a land of health, happiness and vitality.
It has organised many international conferences and symposiums since 2006, including the annual Dubai International Sports Conference, to enhance the knowledge and culture of professionalism, and has brought some of the biggest names from the world of sports here to share their vision and thoughts.
The Council also seeks to develop the sports industry in the UAE and the world through initiatives like the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award, and it organises many major international sports championships as well in cooperation with multiple sports bodies.