Barcelona and Messi light up Sports Conference in Dubai

European champions Barcelona and their star player Lionel Messi were the big winners at the 6th Globe Soccer Awards held in Dubai on Sunday.

FC Barcelona was the centre of attention at the 10th Dubai International Sports Conference.

The La Liga champions won a total of four awards: Best Club, Best President, Best Player of the Year and Best Media Attraction in Football.

The Argentina captain beat off competition from last year's winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to be named Best Player of the Year.

The Argentine wizard, who travelled to Dubai directly from his native Rosario, Argentina to accept the prize personally, received a large ovation from the audience.

"It is very nice to receive these awards, but I always say that the group is what makes it possible," Messi said after receiving the award at a glittering ceremony at Madinat Jumeirah.

When asked what he most remembered from last year, he said: "It is difficult to pick a single moment. It has been an extraordinary year and I'll take the whole year that FC Barcelona had."

After receiving the award, Messi went quickly to the airport to catch a private flight to Barcelona to be ready for Monday's training session.

"Obviously I am very happy to be here and delighted to win this award but as always, the most important thing is the collective, the team,"

"It is difficult to pick out one moment from what has been an extraordinary year for Barca. The whole year has been wonderful."

Following the victory, Messi will also be up against Ronaldo and his Barcelona team-mate Neymar for the Fifa Ballon d'Or on January 11.

Barcelona, who won a historic treble in 2014-15, were named Best Club of the Year, while their chief Josep Maria Bartomeu was awarded the Best President of the Year accolade.

"I am just one of Barcelona’s 140,000 club members and I am extremely proud to be their president," said Bartomeu.

"But this award really belongs to our club members and the 39 presidents before me during the club’s 116-year history. I would also like to give special thanks to the players for all of the efforts they made this year.

"We enjoy our style of football and our philosophy, and our goal is to make people happy. This year we will try to win again. With Messi and the other players life is easier. They keep playing better and better and hopefully that will continue well into the future."

Belgium boss Marc Wilmots was named as Best Coach of the Year ahead of Barca's Luis Enrique and Italy's Antonio Conte after leading his country to top spot in the Fifa world rankings.

New York City pair Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard were recognised and given Player Career Awards.

Jorge Mendes was handed the award for Best Agent of the Year, while Portuguese club Benfica were named as the Best Academy of the Year.

Yasir Al Shahrani was adjudged the Best GCC player of the year a poll held over the last two months arranged by Kooora.com.
 
The 23-year old Saudi defender played in the Under 20 World Cup in 2010 and the 2015 Asian Cup.

Opening

The key moment of the DISC was the presence of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who entered the conference hall accompanied by Messi.

In 2014 the year ended with the celebration of the Real Madrid of Florentino Perez and Carlo Ancelotti, who were feted at the Globe Soccer Awards together with Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez.

This time the story is the same, Spanish is still the language, that of Messi and Suarez, two members of the trio which has taken Barcelona back to the top of the world.

The crisis in England, the slow development of PSG, the re-evaluation of the top Italian clubs, and a few misfires from Bayern Munich, have produced a result which, when associated with the World Cup won by the national team in 2010, has made history and become a tradition.

Spain has won over fans in the Emirates, with 40 per cent supporting Barcelona and 35 per cent for Emirates-sponsored Real Madrid: these are significant numbers in the era of globalisation.

Conference

The two candidates for the presidency of UEFA and the president of Barcelona spoke about the future of football, with Umberto Gandini playing a dual role of both speaker and moderator.

Gianni Infantino, UEFA’s candidate, and Prince Ali bin Hussein  of Jordan, Asia’s representative, tried to take a measured and calm approach and looked to emerging countries.

Both are travelling the world and will continue to do so until 26 February 2015, and did not reject the idea, already flatly refused by European clubs, of a 40-team World Cup.

Barcelona president put the brakes on this idea, as he recalled that professional football has a full calendar and that players need occasional rest and holidays.

“Barcelona was the club of Cruyff, of  Ronaldinho, today it is the club of Messi, tomorrow it will be the club of Neymar who still has room to improve. We have 200 million fans who follow us from every part of the globe, who are connected to our social media. We must think about the future and we are continuing to invest in preparing young players, not only in Spain. We teach football and life, and in life you also learn from defeat. I see Capello and I remember that 4-0 AC Milan inflicted on us in Athens in a Champions League final. That match helped us, perhaps we are what we are today also because we lived through that horrible experience,” said Bartomeu.

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