On the 22nd of April, 2024, Real Madrid and England star, Jude Bellingham, was named the winner of the Laureus World Sports Breakthrough of the Year award. It was fitting recognition for his spectacular form since his move from Borussia Dortmund to the Spanish capital, the most recent example of which was his winner against Barcelona in El Clasico just a few days earlier.
However, the number one prizes at the Laureus World Sports Awards are the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards. This year, Novak Djokovic won the male award, for a fifth time, whilst Spanish ace Aitana Bonmati, who plays for Barcelona in Liga F, won the women’s prize. But has a male footballer ever been crowned Laureus Sportsman Of The Year? We will answer that question very shortly but before we do, let’s ask a preliminary one, for those that may never have even heard of the Laureus World Sports Awards.
What Are the Laureus World Sports Awards?
The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is a fairly self-descriptive charity that aims to use the “power of sport to transform the lives of children and young people”. Laureus is derived from the Greek for laurel, with such a wreath or crown being a mark of honour, or a sign of victory, in classical times.
There are various branches to the Laureus tree and one of those is their annual sporting awards, which were first held in 2000. At that event, in Monte Carlo, the body’s inaugural patron, Nelson Mandela, gave a speech saying that “Sport has the power to change the world… It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does… It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers.”
The awards have been held annually since then, with the Laureus World Sports Academy, described by Laureus as “a unique group of sporting legends”, voting for the winners. There are seven main categories and over 1,000 media outlets from more than 70 countries vote to create shortlists that are then put forward to the Laureus World Sports Academy.
All seven awards are hugely prestigious, with other categories including Team, Comeback and Sport for Good. In addition there are further discretionary awards, for example, for Lifetime Achievement.
Has a Footballer Ever Been Sportsman of the Year?
There have been various footballing winners in the different categories, with Bellingham and Bonmati picking up prizes in 2024. Ronaldo (Brazilian) also won the Comeback of the Year in 2003, with Christian Eriksen picking up that award in 2023 after his return from almost dying on the pitch at Euro 2020. But on the whole these awards have not been especially football-focussed, with tennis perhaps being the sport most recognised with Formula 1, golf and athletics also featuring.
However, there is one footballer who has been crowned the Laureus World Sports Sportsman of the Year and it should not be hugely surprising that that man is Lionel Messi. In fact, the Argentine has landed the big prize on two separate occasions. Both Roger Federer and Djokovic have won this prize five times, a joint record, with Rafa Nadal adding a further two victories.
Messi and Nadal are joined on two wins by Michael Schumacher and Tiger Woods but in terms of nominations for the award, it is Woods and Messi who lead the way. Both sporting legends, GOATs in their own fields, so to speak, have made the shortlist for this honour eight times. In terms of nominations by sport football has done quite well, with male footballers being nominated 24 times.
That is one more nomination than tennis players, but Djokovic and co have converted those 23 nominations into 12 wins, whilst football, well, Messi, has two wins from 24 nominations. Cristiano Ronaldo has never won this Laureus prize but was nominated five times, in 2009, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018. Robert Lewandowski (2021 and 2022) and Kylian Mbappe (2019 and 2023) are the Beautiful Game’s other multi-nominees.
2020: Messi Named Sportsman of the Year
Somewhat surprisingly Messi, probably the greatest player of all time, in the world’s most popular sport, had to wait until he was 32 to be named Sportsman of the Year at the Laureus Awards. It is especially strange as his statistical peak may have been almost a decade earlier.
His goalscoring feats in 2011/12 were especially impressive (73 goals in 60 club games), whilst in 2010/11 he helped Barca to a league and Champions League double, a feat he repeated in 2014/15. In both of those campaigns he recorded over 50 goals for the Catalan giants, so it is easy to view his recognition by Laureus as a little tardy.
He had first been nominated for the prize back in 2010, also making the shortlist in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He was then nominated in 2016, as well as in 2020, 2023 and 2024. The way these are skewered towards the end of his career suggests that it is only as we realised he wouldn’t be here forever that he gained the recognition he really deserved.
This first win in 2020 was actually only a joint one too, with Lewis Hamilton honoured alongside the diminutive magician. Messi “only” managed 31 goals for his club in 2019/20 and a mere 38 the following season. Whilst he guided Barca to the Liga crown in May 2019, both he and the team were past their best by then but nonetheless, the 2019 Ballon d’Or winner was overdue.
2023: Messi Makes it Two
The Rosario ace’s win in 2023 is in many ways more understandable and was recognition for the key role he played in helping Argentina win the World Cup at the end of 2022. He won the Golden Ball in Qatar and the Silver Boot, being the second-top scorer with seven goals and also providing three assists.
He had moved to PSG at this stage and although his performances were decent, it was undoubtedly his achievements with his national side that saw him claim a second Laureus Sportsman of the Year award. Incredibly, despite turning 35 midway through 2022, Messi notched 18 goals in 14 games for Argentina that year, also netting nine in 16 a year earlier and eight in eight in 2023!