Best Fifa Awards to be held virtually

Senior Sports Reporter
THE Best Fifa Football Awards 2021 will take place on January 17, 2022, as a virtual event in line with ongoing public health measures.

There are seven categories in which national team coaches, captains and one selected specialist journalist from each country will nominate their choices.

These categories are; Best Fifa men’s Player, Best Fifa women’s Player, Best Fifa men’s Coach, Best Fifa women’s Coach, Best Fifa men’s Goalkeeper as well as Best Fifa women’s Goalkeeper.

Other awards for the night are Fifa Fifpro Women’s World 11, Fifpro men’s World 11, Fifa Fair Play award, Fifa Puskas award (best goal of the year) as well as Fifa Fan award.

Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski won the last edition of the awards, relegating Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo to second and third place respectively. Lucy Bronze of Manchester City was voted the women’s player of the year, while Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp won the best coach gong.

Zimbabwean panelists of skipper Knowledge Musona and media representative Sikhumbuzo Moyo were among those who voted for Lewandowski, while coach Zdravko Logaruši? put the Bayern Munich forward as his second choice, with his first being Sadio Mane and Kylian Mbappe his third choice.

Musona had Virgil Van Dijk and Kevin De Bruyne as his second and third choices respectively.

Moyo put Mane and Mohammed Salah as his second and third choices.

None of the Zimbabwean panelists voted for the eventual winner in the Best Fifa women’s player, Bronze of Manchester City.

Mighty Warriors captain Emmaculate Msipha settled for Lyon’s Dzsenifer Morozsan, while her coach Sithethelelwe Sibanda settled for Wendie Renard of Lyon.

Moyo chose Barcelona’s Caroline Graham.

For the Coach of the Year, eventually won by Klopp, Musona had Hans-Dieter Flick as his first choice and Klopp as his second. Logarusic settled for Leeds’ Marcelo Bielsa, Zinedine Zidane and Julen Lopategui.

Moyo put Klopp as his first choice, Dieter Flick as second and Bielsa.

The trio of Musona, coach Norman Mapeza and Moyo will begin the voting process for this year’s awards on November 22 with the process ending on December 10.