FIFA hands over the running of its annual awards to the Dubai Sports Council

January 1 – FIFA’s Best Awards, launched in a shiny blaze of publicity and showbiz glamour in 2017 after a partnership fallout out with the more established Ballon d’Or Awards, have now been canned in favour of a new partnership with the Dubai Sports Council (DSC).

Starting in December this year, the awards will be hosted in Dubai under the auspices of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between FIFA and the DSC at the World Sports Summit in Dubai earlier this week.

FIFA said the awards will become the “only official annual FIFA awards ceremony that gathers the world’s most influential football figures, celebrating the best players, teams, and achievements of the beautiful game for the previous year.”

“We are delighted to join forces with Dubai, a city that lives and breathes football, as we develop this world-class event,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “These world football awards will not just be an award ceremony, but an innovative way to celebrate football and honour the official top performers of the year both on and off the pitch.”

While the rhetoric sounds familiar to that in 2017, the reality is that FIFA has been unable to make the awards or the brash brand name credible, and they have failed to challenge the Ballon d’Or’s more highly regarded and trusted editorial process.

That is the challenge that the DSC is now taking on. FIFA said further information on the award categories, the nomination and voting systems and the event dates will follow in due course. It is not clear whether the ‘Best’ name will continue as the branding for the awards.

Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the DSC, said: “The Dubai Sports Council enjoys a strong partnership with FIFA, which has resulted in numerous initiatives announced by Gianni Infantino from Dubai in recent times, impacting the global football landscape.

“We are pleased to announce this new agreement, which underscores the continued cooperation between us and reflects Dubai’s prominent position on the global football map. It also highlights Dubai’s role in developing the game worldwide and shaping a brighter future for the world’s biggest and most popular sport through launching pioneering initiatives, honouring outstanding individuals and hosting major events.”

Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1767341004labto1767341004ofdlr1767341004owedi1767341004sni@n1767341004osloh1767341004cin.l1767341004uap1767341004