Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah have been confirmed as finalists for this month’s Dubai Globe Soccer Awards, with all three nominated for ‘Player of the Century’.
For the first time since the awards’ inception in 2010, the shortlists for the seven categories have been chosen entirely by fans.
On Tuesday, organisers reported that in excess of 8 million votes have been registered from more than 230 countries worldwide. The ceremony, held in partnership with Dubai Sports Council, takes place at Armani Hotel on December 27 and follows on from the Dubai International Sports Conference that same day.
Organisers said the awards will this year recognise the top talent in 2020 while also extending for the first time to the standout performers of the past 20 years. The winner of an eighth category – the ‘Player Career Award’ – will be announced on the night, too.
Ronaldo and Messi vie for both ‘Player of the Century 2001-2020’ and 'Player of the Year’ awards. They are joined in the former category by Liverpool’s Salah and former Barcelona star and Brazil World Cup winner Ronaldinho. Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski makes up the shortlist for the 2020 award.
Meanwhile, ‘Coach of the Century’ will be contested by Sir Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Zinedine Zidane, while Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Egypt’s Al Ahly have been shortlisted for ‘Club of the Century’.
The second round of voting is now open to decide the winners. Fans can vote at vote.globesoccer.com, at this year's event title sponsor TikTok, or via the media partners platform, Kooora, in the Arab region. The winners are chosen by fans and the Globe Soccer Jury, said to comprise a panel of leading industry experts.
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Player of the Century finalists for the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards. All images courtesy Dubai Globe Soccer Awards -
Club of the Century finalists. -
Coach of the Century finalists. -
Agent of the Century finalists.
