What is the Socrates Award at the Ballon d’Or? Vinicius Junior wins humanitarian award

Real Madrid tars Vinicius Junior has won the Socrates Award at the 2023 Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris.

The 23-year-old received the honour for his humanitarian work. Vinicius’ foundation, Vini.Jr Institute, funds an educational app for underprivileged children in Brazil.

The app provides free access to educational resources for children. This year his personal contribution to the foundation is set to exceed $1 million and will rise to $2.5 million in 2024.

On stage at the awards ceremony in Paris, co-host Didier Drogba added that Vinicius’ public anti-racist stance was also a factor in the decision to give him the Socrates Award. The Brazilian has frequently been the subject of racist abuse in Spain and has used his platform to draw attention to the problem.

Who was Socrates?

The award is named after an iconic Brazilian soccer player called Socrates, who captained the national team in the 1982 and was named South American Footballer of the Year the following year.

Aside from his generational on-field talents, Socrates was also noted for his political awareness and social conScience. During his playing career he was a vocal opponent of the ruling Military government and was a key voice in the national push for democracy. He even wore shirts emblazoned with the word ‘Democracia’ during matches.

Who else has won the Socrates Award?

The Brazilian legend died in 2011 and he was posthumously honoured with this award in his name. The first Socrates Awards was presented last year, in 2022, at the Ballon d’Or event.

The inaugural winner of the award was Senegalese forward Sadio Mané, who had recently left Liverpool to join Bayern Munich. Mané is involved in a number of humanitarian enterprises in his native Senegal.

He continues to donate a significant portion of his wages to help people in Bambali, the town where he grew up. Mané funds a school and a hospital and countless other Healthcare and Educational programmes.

Vinicius Jr joins Sadio Mané on the short but illustrious list of Socrates Award winners.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Premier League team of the week: Gameweek 8

Image
Game week eight of the Premier League 2023/24 season was a banner one for north London clubs. Thanks to wins over Manchester City and Luton Town respectively, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur sit atop the league table heading into the October international break and are now the only unbeaten teams left in the division. Lower down the table there were also plenty of huge wins, match-winning performances and controversy (thankfully not as much as last week though). After another weekend of Premier League action, here's 90min's team of the week. Premier League team of the week: Gameweek 8 GK: Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace) Another clean sheet / Visionhaus/GettyImages The ex-West Brom number one has quietly been one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League this season, and he continued his fine form at the weekend. Johnstone was made to work for his clean sheet against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, making five impressive stops in the draw. CB: Murillo (Nottingham Forest) Muril...
Read more

Tom Lockyer provides health update after cardiac arrest

Luton Town captain Tom Lockyer has given an update on his condition on New Year’s Eve and thanked the people who saved his life after suffering a cardiac arrest against Bournemouth on December 16. The 29-year-old, who will see specialists in the new year to determine what his next step will be, collapsed in the 59th minute of the Premier League clash at the Vitality Stadium, resulting in the fixture being abandoned. The Welshman was discharged from hospital five days later following a successful procedure to fit an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. “I would just like to say that I am doing very well and feeling very much myself after the cardiac arrest I suffered in Bournemouth,” Lockyer wrote on social media. “The reason I’m doing so well is all down to the heroic actions of the players, staff, doctors and paramedics. “I feel thankful that this happened to me surrounded by these heroes. They saved my life. I will never forget what you did for me.” 📲 Tom Lockyer has provide...
Read more

SV LeBron James posted exclusive stadium exercise photographs featuring his 185-cm-tall young son.

Image
LeBron James recently uploaded training images of his second son, Bryce James, to the social media platform. He further exclaimed, “Young ‘king,’ welcome to high school!” Bryce James is reportedly the second child of LeBron James. He is 1.85 meters in height and 14 years old. Like his father, Bryce James will likely enter the NBA prior to turning 20 years old. Bryce James during a session of training. In his conduct, a trace of LeBron James can be observed. Five points are made by Bryce James. Bryce James during a session of training. Source: https://thefoxposts.com/sv-lebron-james-posted-exclusive-stadium-exercise-photographs-featuring-his-185-cm-tall-young-son-TheFOXposts-50243.html?utm_source=blogger_source&utm_medium=blogger_medium&utm_campaign=blogger_cam Category: Football Post by: TheFOXposts.Com
Read more