DUBAI: Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo clinched the Maradona Award for Best Goalscorer ahead of this month’s highly esteemed Dubai Globe Soccer Awards.
The event, supported by Dubai Sports Council and presented this year by Nakheel, will be hosted at the luxurious Atlantis, The Palm. The 14th edition of the ceremony is scheduled to take place on Friday, 19th January.
Ronaldo secured the award by outperforming rivals Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane, and Erling Haaland, adding this achievement to his impressive list of individual successes.
Ronaldo’s latest accolade capped a magical 12 months for the evergreen superstar, now 38, who has already scored 34 times in as many league games for Saudi Pro League title challengers Al Nassr.
The world’s all-time record goalscorer, with 873 strikes currently to his name, is also in contention to land the Best Men’s Player, Best Middle East Player, and Fans’ Favourite Player at the glitzy Dubai Globe Soccer Awards ceremony on Palm Jumeirah – one of the world’s largest
artificial islands, developed by the leading regional real estate developer Nakheel.
The second and final round of voting across the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards’ 11 main categories and six digital categories, including the inaugural Serie A awards, saw more than 50 million votes cast by football fans worldwide. The avalanche of votes has resulted in an accumulative total exceeding 70 million throughout the entire process – double the number of votes registered in 2022.
Globe Soccer’s Official Jury – made up of more than 30 key football industry figures, including Francesco Totti, Iker Casillas, Luis Figo, and Marcello Lippi – were also involved in the final selection process, which closed on 28th December 2023.
Meanwhile, an unprecedented number of downloads were recorded for the new Globe Soccer application, with 1.5 million people registering their votes to/on the dedicated app.
The Dubai Globe Soccer Awards 2023 will be broadcast live worldwide, with Saudi Sports Company (SSC) serving as the event’s offi
cial host broadcaster, with online streaming accessible on various channels.
Source: Emirates News Agency