Juventus and Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo will be one of the speakers at this year’s Dubai International Sports Conference (DISC), organisers announced on Wednesday.
Taking place on Sunday at Armani Hotel in Burj Khalifa, the 15th edition of the conference will be conducted under the theme "Football at the Top". Ronaldo will be joined at the event by Bayern Munich striker, and Fifa Men's Player of the Year, Robert Lewandowski.
The 2020 DISC will also welcome a number of top decision-makers from across the world of football when it convenes next week.
Ronaldo is a regular speaker and attendee at DISC and has featured multiple times in previous years, sharing his experiences with the audience and talking about various aspects related to his celebrated career.
One of the greatest footballers of his generation, Ronaldo has experienced a long and illustrious club career with spells at Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus having come through the academy at Sporting Lisbon.
On the international stage, Ronaldo has enjoyed success with Portugal, helping his national team win the 2016 European Championships and the inaugural Uefa Nations League title. This year he became only the second player in history to reach a century of international goals (102) and is just seven behind Iran's Ali Daei's all-time record.
Ronaldo's numerous club trophies have been supplemented by plenty of individual accolades. A five-time Ballon d'Or winner, Ronaldo has also won six Best Player of the Year trophies at the Globe Soccer Awards - DISC's partnership awards ceremony.
The 36-year-old forward looks set to add even more individual honours to his collection as he leads the Globe Soccer Awards votes in both the Player of the Year and Player of the Century categories - voted on for the first time by fans.
However, fan votes have only 40 per cent share in deciding the winners. The votes by the Awards’ jury has a 60 per cent weightage and the final winners will be announced after taking the jury votes into count.
The 2021 Globe Soccer Awards will also take place at the Armani Hotel following the conclusion of the conference.
The Dubai Sports Council is organising the Conference and Globe Soccer Awards in the presence of a number of people, from within and outside the country, as well as nominees and representative of nominees for the many Globe Soccer Awards categories.
The conference and Awards ceremony will be the first event to be organised with the physical participation and presence of international football stars and the game’s top decision-makers since the outbreak of Covid-19.
Organisers have stated that all the necessary Covid-19 precautionary measures and protocols will be implemented as mandated by Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management.
