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Globe Soccer Awards to launch ‘Road to Dubai’ Intercontinental Series

Globe Soccer, the UAE-based organisers of the prestigious Dubai Globe Soccer Awards that annually attracts some of the most recognisable names in world football, on Tuesday 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 the 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.

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 reads like an elite gathering of the world’s most prominent football stars, from Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, and Robert Lewandowksi to Pep Guardiola, Zinedine Zidane, Jose Mourinho, and the late Diego Maradona.

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Liverpool Sign $77.36 million Adidas Deal To Replace Nike

Liverpool Sign $77.36 million Adidas Deal To Replace Nike

Liverpool have announced a multi-year kit deal with Adidas that will begin next season, replacing existing manufacturer Nike.

The club previously sported Adidas kits between 1985 to 1996, and again between 2006 and 2012. Liverpool did not say how long the new Adidas deal would be. British media reports previously said it was a five-year agreement worth more than £60 million per year.

The Premier League record kit deal belongs to Manchester United after they signed a £90m-per-year contract with Adidas in July 2023.

“Everyone at the club is incredibly excited to welcome adidas back into the LFC family,” Liverpool chief executive Billy Hogan said in a statement on Monday.

“We have enjoyed fantastic success together in the past and created some of the most iconic LFC kits of all time. adidas and Liverpool share an ambition of success and we couldn’t be more excited to partner together again as we look forward to creating more incredible kits to help drive on pitch performance. We’d like to thank Nike for their support over the last five years and wish them well for the future.”

 

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Lagos Sports Commission DG, Gaslink Commission Newly Refurbished Elegbata Sports Centre

Lagos State Sports scores another milestone in the public/private partnership with the recently commissioned Elegbata Sports Centre, Elegbata on Lagos Island.

Director General Lekan Fatodu led top management staff of the Lagos State Sports Commission to the Elegbata Sports Centre for the brief commissioning of the sports centre.

Also on hand was the Managing Director, Gas Distribution Axxela, Kehinde Alabi who also came along with some staff of the company.

Sports Marketing International reports that Gaslink refurbished the playing turf, perimeter fence, spectator gallery stand, and improved the overall aesthetic of the sports centre.

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Niger Delta Sports Festival: Akwa Ibom ready to host – Gov Umoh Eno

 

The maiden edition of the Niger Delta Sports Festival has received a major boost with the assurance by the Akwa Ibom State Government of its readiness to host.

The State Governor, His Excellency, Pastor Umoh Eno, gave the assurance on Thursday during a courtesy visit by the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission led by the Managing Director, Dr Sam Ogbuku, accompanied Executive Director, Sector Directors, and the Project Consultants, Dunamis Icon, to brief the Governor on the objectives for instituting the multi sports competition and plans for its successful realisation.

Thanking the NDDC for initiating the festival and choosing Akwa Ibom State as host of the maiden edition, Gov Enoh said the visit by the NDDC shows it’s seriousness on the project.

“We thank you for the privilege to host. Your visit shows your seriousness, and there is no way we will reject it.

“The festival will promote the unity in our diversity and also help the local economy through the various commercial activities, from patronage of hotels, food, transportation and other things involved.

“We will set up a small committee to work with you to deliver the event. We look forward to welcoming the Niger Delta, and together, we will have a good time.”

On the availability of required sports facilities, the governor expressed pleasure that successive administrations in the state have contributed to the stock.

“These facilities have come through the combination of works done by each administration. The Godswill Akpabio Stadium done by our present Senate President has stood the test of time, and it also takes great efforts to maintain and sustain it.”

L-R: MD of NDDC, Dr Sam Ogbuku; Akwa Ibom State Governor, His Excellency, Pastor Umoh Eno; NDDC Executive Director of Projects, Sir Victor Antai; and Exective Director, Corporate Services, Hon Ifedayo Abegunde

 

Earlier in his address, the NDDC Managing Director said the key objectives of the initiative is to foster regional integration, project the identity of the region as a leader in Nigerian sports, and support the partner the states in the discovery and harnessing of talents for the attainment of gainful sporting careers and national excellence in international competitions.

“The Niger Delta is a leading sports hub in Nigeria. The region has produced great sports legends, but when we do not do something to sustain that, there will be a decline.

“We have done very well in our interventions on roads, bridges, education, health, the provision of infrastructure in various other sectors, and as we mark the 25th anniversary of the NDDC, we are starting with intervention in sports.

“We have had a meeting with the commissioners for sports of the nine states, and they are excited and confirmed their participation in the festival.”

“We chose Akwa Ibom after having confirmed that the state has the facilities for competition in the featured sports and we would only need to do a few touches on some of them, with the Godswill as the main venue.”

Rhe NDDC entourage included Sir Victor Antai, Executive Director, Projects; Hon Ifedayo Abegunde, Executive Director, Corporate Services; Apostle Edikan Nkono, Akwa Ibom representative on the board of the NDDC; Directors of various operational departments; Sir Itiako Ikpokpo, Chairman of Dunamis Icon Limited, and other officers of the company.

The Niger Delta Sports Festival is scheduled for April 1 to 8, 2025, with Uyo as the host city.

The activities would start with state trials and selection process, which the organisers say would begin from the local government areas and across the 85 federal constituencies in the region.

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