FIFA Fair Play Award

For World Cup awards, see FIFA Fair Play Trophy.

Ball boys in Banadir Stadium, Somalia, holding a FIFA Fair Play banner.

The FIFA Fair Play Award is a FIFA recognition of exemplary behaviour that promotes the spirit of fair play and compassion in association football around the world. First awarded in 1987, it has been presented to individuals (including posthumously), teams, fans, spectators, football associations/federations and even entire footballing communities. One or more awards are presented annually, with there being at least one recipient each year except in 1994, when no award was presented.

Winners

Year Winners[1] Reason Ref
1987 Scotland Dundee United's fans Fans' good behaviour towards winners IFK Göteborg in the UEFA Cup Final. [2]
1988 Germany Frank Ordenewitz Sporting behaviour in admitting handball in a penalty situation in a match between 1. FC Köln and Werder Bremen. [b]
South Korea Spectators of the 1988 Seoul Olympic football tournament Fans leaving a lasting impression with their sporting and composed behaviour. [3]
1989 Trinidad and Tobago Trinidadian and Tobagonian supporters Sporting behaviour despite home loss to the United States in their final match in the 1989 CONCACAF Championship.
1990 England Gary Lineker Entire 16-year career as a professional football player without a yellow or red card.
1991  Royal Spanish Football Federation Exemplary way the government, media, schools, artists and sponsors were all involved in fair play activities.
Brazil Jorginho Unique career and model behaviour both on and off the field.
1992  Royal Belgian Football Association Promoting fair play with its campaign "Football in Peace" and aid project "Casa Hogar" in Toluca, Mexico.
1993 Hungary Nándor Hidegkuti Honoured for his model behaviour as a player and coach.
 Football Association of Zambia Efforts of the reconstituted national team in the wake of 1993 Zambia national team air disaster.
1994 Not awarded
1995 France Jacques Glassmann Courageous attitude as whistleblower in the Valenciennes and Marseille bribery case.
1996 Liberia George Weah Demonstrating his true love for the game and projecting the message of Fair Play to the widest possible public.
1997 Republic of Ireland Irish supporters Exemplary behaviour, especially during the World Cup preliminary match against Belgium. [4][l]
Slovakia Jozef Žovinec (Slovak amateur player) 60 years of amateur football without receiving a yellow card.[5]
United States Julie Foudy Efforts against child labour.
1998  United States Soccer Federation Sportsmanship surrounding their 1998 FIFA World Cup match, despite mutual political tensions for nearly 20 years.
 Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran
 Irish Football Association Efforts to reunite the Catholic and Protestant communities, in a match in Belfast between Cliftonville and Linfield.
1999 New Zealand New Zealand's football community Efforts towards making the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship a resounding success.
2000 South Africa Lucas Radebe Working with children in South Africa and commitment to the fight against racism in football.
2001 Italy Paolo Di Canio Taking ball out of play with his hands, when opposing goalkeeper Paul Gerrard was injured on the ground. [6]
2002 South Korea Korea Football Association Demonstrating a spirit of brotherhood and sportsmanship by co-hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup. [7][8]
Japan Japan Football Association
2003 Scotland Celtic's Fans Exemplary behaviour in the 2003 UEFA Cup Final, despite Celtic losing 3–2 in extra-time to Porto. [8]
2004  Brazilian Football Confederation Recognition of the "Match for Peace" played by the national teams of Brazil and Haiti,
where tickets were offered in exchange for guns. 		[8]
2005 Peru Community of Iquitos, Peru Wholehearted support of the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, and contribution to football. [8]
2006 Germany Fans of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Fans' fair play, mutual respect, and special atmosphere created inside and outside the stadiums. [8]
2007 Spain Barcelona Rejecting lucrative shirt sponsorship deals and instead carrying the UNICEF logo. [9]
2008  Turkish Football Federation Encouraging dialogue between two countries which otherwise do not have any form of diplomatic relationship. [10]
 Football Federation of Armenia
2009 England Bobby Robson Posthumously awarded for commitment to fair play shown throughout his career as a player and coach. [11]
2010  Haiti women's national under-17 football team Enduring hardships in wake of 2010 Haiti earthquake. [12]
2011  Japan Football Association Enduring hardships in wake of 2011 Japan earthquake, while winning the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.
2012  Uzbekistan Football Association Showing that fair play and competition are not mutually exclusive but complement each other.
2013  Afghanistan Football Federation Solidarity in football against all odds through the after-effects of war, disorder and conflict. [13]
2014 Brazil Canada Costa Rica Morocco World Cup volunteers Their work, tireless support, enthusiasm, and passion for the game as demonstrated
at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, and 2014 FIFA Club World Cup.
2015 All football organisations supporting refugees Working to support refugees in the face of conflict. Accepted on their behalf by Gerald Asamoah, who campaigns for the welfare of refugees.
2016 Colombia Atlético Nacional Requested CONMEBOL to award Chapecoense with the 2016 Copa Sudamericana title after the LaMia Flight 2933 crash.
2017 Togo Francis Koné Saved the life of an opponent by administering on-pitch first aid after a collision. [14]
2018 Germany Lennart Thy Missed an Eredivisie match for VVV Venlo against PSV Eindhoven to donate blood for a recipient
in urgent need of matching stem cells for leukaemia treatment. 		[15]
2019 Argentina Marcelo Bielsa After Leeds United scored while Aston Villa had an injured player on the pitch, Leeds United allowed Aston Villa to score unopposed. [16]
England Leeds United
2020 Italy Mattia Agnese Administered critical first aid to an opponent who lost consciousness following an on-field collision. [17][18][19][20]
2021  Denmark national team and medical staff Administered critical CPR and protected Christian Eriksen during the UEFA Euro 2020 group stage match versus Finland
2022 Georgia (country) Luka Lochoshvili Saving the life of Georg Teigl after he collapsed during a match. [21]
2023 Brazil Brazil national team In a friendly against Guinea in June 2023, the Seleção swapped their traditional yellow jerseys for an all-black kit in an anti-racism statement. [22]


Notes

  • b – The Werder Bremen player admitted handball in the penalty area to the referee in a German League match against 1. FC Köln on 7 May 1988. Cologne went on to win the match 2–0.[23]
  • l – Caroline Hanlon accepted on behalf of the supporters.[4]

In 2010 the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) refused the offer of a Fair Play award following the France and Republic of Ireland 2010 World Cup Play-offs handball controversy. CEO of the FAI John Delaney called FIFA President Sepp Blatter "an embarrassment to himself and an embarrassment to FIFA" for his handling and comments following the controversy.

References

  1. ^ "FACTSheet FIFA awards" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  2. ^ Low, Dave. "Dundee Utd reach the UEFA Cup Final 1987". BBC Scotland. Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  3. ^ "한국관중에 주는 F I F A페어플레이賞(상) 오늘 韓(한)—네팔경기 하프타임때 전달받아". Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b "A Night of Records and Premieres". FIFA. 24 February 1998. Archived from the original on 19 May 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  5. ^ "Cena fair play FIFA pre Jozefa Žovinca, bezkartového futbalistu s najdlhšou licenciou". sme.sk. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  6. ^ FIFA.com. "Welcome to FIFA.com News - FIFA Fair Play Award to Paolo di Canio". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 9 March 2021.[dead link]
  7. ^ "한국, FIFA 페어플레이상 수상". Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d e Pierrend, José Luis. "FIFA Awards - FIFA Fair Play Trophy". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  9. ^ "Barcelona scoop FIFA Fair Play award". FIFA. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008.
  10. ^ "Fair Play for Armenia, Turkey". FIFA. 12 January 2009. Archived from the original on 22 December 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
  11. ^ "Fair Play Award honours Robson" (Press release). FIFA. 21 December 2009. Archived from the original on 30 December 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  12. ^ "Haiti's standard bearers show the way". FIFA. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013.
  13. ^ "FIFA Awards Afghanistan 'Fair Play Award For 2013'". Rferl.org. 14 January 2014. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  14. ^ fifa.com
  15. ^ "Modric, Marta Crowned The Best in London". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 24 September 2018. Archived from the original on 25 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  16. ^ Sutcliffe, Steve (23 September 2019). "Best Fifa Football Awards: Van Dijk & Bronze in contention for top prizes". BBC. Archived from the original on 4 July 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  17. ^ "Mattia Agnese, the young hero who saved a life". Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  18. ^ "THE STORY OF MATTIA AGNESE, WINNER OF FIFA FAIR PLAY AWARD". football-italia.net. 18 December 2020. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  19. ^ "Mattia Agnese: chi è il dilettante premiato con il Fifa Fair Play Awards per aver salvato la vita a un avversario". correiere.it. 17 December 2020. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  20. ^ "FIFA Fair Play Award". FIFA. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  21. ^ "Lochoshvili's life-saving actions recognised with FIFA Fair Play award". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 27 February 2023. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  22. ^ "Brazil win FIFA Fair Play award for powerful anti-racism message". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  23. ^ "International Federations" (PDF). LA84 Foundation. p. 100. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2008.