MUMBAI: Gurgaon based Lex Sportel Vision, today announced the acquisition of broadcast rights for the Indian sub-continent for The Best – FIFA Football Awards, the premier awards for recognition of footballing excellence in the world. This will be Lex Sportel’s second association with FIFA after the Round 2 draw for Asian qualifiers to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 preliminary competition.
The award ceremony will be brought LIVE to the Indian audience on DSPORT from 12:00 AM onward on September 24, 2019.
The Best FIFA Football Awards which constituted in the year 2016, is aimed at reviving the FIFA World Player of the Year, which was merged with France Football’s Ballon d'Or in 2010 to become the FIFA Ballon d'Or in a six-year partnership. The first awarding ceremony was held on January 9, 2017 at Zurich, Switzerland. The 2018 edition was held in London. The 2019 edition of the annual awards ceremony is going to be held at La Scala, Milan, Italy.
Commenting on the acquisition, Mr. R.C. Venkateish, MD and CEO, Lex Sportel said, “We are really happy to have secured broadcast rights in the Indian subcontinent for the greatest award ceremony in football. This is a small yet a very important step for us continuing our association with FIFA”
This fresh ceremony involves fans more than ever before, with their votes helping decide the winners of The Best FIFA Men's and Women's player and coach awards, as well as the inauguration of a new FIFA Fan Award which recognised an outstanding celebratory fan moment or gesture.
The Key Nominations:
The nominations for Best FIFA Men’s Player are as follows:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo – Juventus
2. Lionel Messi – Barcelona
3. Virgil Van Dijk – Liverpool
The nominations for Best FIFA Women’s Player are as follows:
1. Lucy Bronze – England
2. Alex Morgan – USA
3. Megan Rapinoe – USA
The nominations for Best FIFA Men’s Coach are as follows:
1. Pep Guardiola – Manchester City
2. Jurgen Klopp – Liverpool
3. Mauricio Pochettino – Tottenham Hotspur
The nominations for Best FIFA Women’s Coach are as follows:
1. Jill Ellis – USA National Team
2. Phill Neville – England National Team
3. Sarina Weigman – Netherlands National Team
The nominations for Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper are as follows:
1. Alisson – Liverpool
2. Ederson – Manchester City
3. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen – Barcelona
The nominations for Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper are as follows:
1. Christiane Endler – Chile
2. Hedvig Lindahl – Sweden
3. Sari van Veenendaal - Netherlands
The other categories at the awards include:
- The FIFA Fair Play Award
- The FIFA Puskás Award
- FIFA FIFPro World11
- The FIFA Fan Award
- The FIFA Award for an Outstanding Career
