FIFA President Gianni Infantino has received the award for International Sports Personality of the Year at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Awards ceremony in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Inspired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s love of sport, the awards were established in 2009, and recognise individual achievement in a broad range of sport-related fields. International recipients have been eligible since 2012, and the International Sports Personality of the Year is the highest international honour, acknowledging innovators who develop sport and increase fair competition.

“I am honoured to be awarded The International Sports Personality of the Year at the 12th edition of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award in Dubai,” said Mr Infantino. “Receiving this award, which celebrates creativity, innovation and fairness in the sporting world, fills me with such pride because, at FIFA, we represent unity, fair competition, equality, and sustained global development. “I would like to congratulate all the award winners and express my heartfelt gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, and the award committees for this award, the highest international award given by the city of Dubai.”

Mr Infantino received the award in recognition of FIFA having developed football through various means, including Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology, doping detection, and the monitoring of player injuries. The awards committee also acknowledged the FIFA President’s role in launching qualitative initiatives to reinforce football’s presence around the world, such as increasing the number of teams in the FIFA World Cup™ to 48, which is a key pillar of FIFA’s strategic objectives for the next four years. Mr Infantino’s positive role in the Arab world was also highlighted, specifically FIFA granting the region the rights to host multiple FIFA tournaments and major events.

The UAE has a proud history of staging FIFA tournaments having hosted eight tournaments in the past 21 years, including four FIFA Club World Cups™, the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2003™, the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2013™, and the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009™. It will host its ninth FIFA tournament when the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2024™ kicks off next month. “Being awarded The International Sports Personality of the Year at the 12th edition of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award in Dubai is representative of the success FIFA has enjoyed in uniting the world through football,” added the FIFA President. “My thanks go to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, to everyone who has worked in football, and also to the beautiful, sport-loving city of Dubai, where we will be back from 15 February for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which promises to be another great occasion that will unite the world.”