Abu Dhabi, UAE
CNN
—
Days before the World Cup kicks off in Qatar, neighboring Dubai will celebrate the best players, teams and managers the beautiful game has to offer at the annual Globe Soccer Awards.
CNN has partnered with the awards, now in their 17th year, to launch the CNN Off the Pitch category at this year’s ceremony on Nov. 17.
The award will recognize the achievements of an individual, club or other football organization for their impact on wider society and culture as well as charitable work.
“I believe him [the award] is hugely important because young people are watching you, they are trying to imitate what you are doing,” Fabio Capello, former Real Madrid, Russia and England coach, told CNN’s Becky Anderson.
“Because they live and see themselves through great players and their idols. And their idols must know and understand it.
Capello is a member of a five-person judging panel — made up of current or former players and coaches — that will decide the nominees before a panel of CNN sportswriters selects the winner.
“It’s lucky that our work can influence many people and professions, which are also some of the things I love most about this sport,” Spanish footballer Alexia Putellas, another of the jurors, told Becky Anderson. from CNN.
“To see how it can change a person’s feelings after watching a game or watching us play is one of the best things that can happen to us as footballers.”
Putellas was one of the winners of the Globe Soccer Awards in 2021, along with Paris Saint-Germain and French striker Kylian Mbappé, FC Barcelona star Robert Lewandowski and Italian coach Roberto Mancini.
Nominees for each of the 2022 award categories, including the CNN Off the Pitch Award, will be announced Oct. 20, when voting for the winners begins.
“I have read all the nominees and nominees for this award, but there are a few that I [am] much closer to; I felt their willingness to help,” Capello said.
“Their desire to be present, even when they were at the top as footballers and coaches.”
Some of the awards up for grabs at the event, hosted by the Dubai Sports Council, include best agent, transfer deal and sporting director.
The Globe Digital Awards, also launching in 2022, will recognize creative influencers and eSports gamers.
