In 2020, football, like everything else, has been marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the international competitions had to stop due to the lockdowns and many of them were canceled. However, When the ball started rolling again, football and the players – its undisputed protagonists along with the fans – once again brought passion, entertainment and a message of hope to millions of homes all over the world.
To recognize the efforts of all those professional players who made the return of soccer possible despite the difficult conditions, World Football Summit and Diario AS have created an award that will reward the best soccer player and the best soccer player in the world in 2020 (Your performance in the 2019-20 season will be taken into account). These two awards will join the WFS Industry Awards, with which the industry's leading international congress has been recognizing the work of different professionals in the sector and that on this occasion They will be delivered virtually as part of the WFS Live digital congress, which will take place between November 23 and 27.
The categories of Best Player and Best Player will reward the soccer player in the world who with their individual performance have led their team -club and / or selection- to achieve important collective goals. A jury made up of fifteen of the most prestigious international soccer specialists and analysts in Spain will draw up a list of 15 candidates by category to be announced next October 28. Since then, fans can participate by voting for their favorites through as.com. The public vote will be worth 25 percent, while the jury will do it 75 percent.
The jury will be made up of Vicente Jimenez, director of AS; Alfredo Relaño, Honorary President of AS; Santiago Segurola, AS columnist; Maria Jesus Luengo, editor-in-chief of AS; Jose Samano, editor-in-chief of Sports at El País; Aritz gabilondo, AS journalist; Alejandro Gomez, director of AS México; Axel torres, AS columnist; Carmen Colino, editor-in-chief of Verticales de AS; Dani garrido, director of ‘Carrusel Deportivo’ of Cadena SER; Mayca jimenez, AS journalist; Manu Carreño, director of ‘El Larguero’ of Cadena SER; Sarah Castro, director of AS Colombia; Aimara Garteizgoxeascoa Gil, AS journalist; Y Mario brisso, director of AS Chile.
On November 11, the three finalists in each category will be announced, while the winners will be announced on Monday 16. The prizes will be delivered virtually on November 27 in a ceremony that can be followed live on as.com.
“2020 is being a very tough year. We are experiencing an unprecedented global crisis and in this context it is clear that football is taking a back seat. But at the same time, the absence of football has allowed us to see to what extent this sport makes us happy and gives us an escape route. The return of football has been a stimulus for many people and that has been possible thanks, among other things, to the efforts of the players who have adapted to very difficult conditions to continue fueling the passion of the followers. That is why we believe that this It is a good time to add to our WFS Industry Awards a category that rewards the work of the players, who are, together with the fans, the main protagonists of this game and this business. And to reward the best players, we could not have a better partner than an information and content benchmark such as Prisa Noticias, which has the most prestigious sports experts and analysts in the country, “he explains Jan Alessie, director of the World Football Summit.