DUBAI (WAM)
The 19th edition of the Dubai International Sports Conference, organised by Dubai Sports Council, which is also supporting the annual Beyond Globe Soccer Dubai Awards, will see a flurry of current and former football stars descend on Atlantis, The Palm on Friday evening.
The event will see more than 1000 guests gather at the venue, with world-renowned superstar Cristiano Ronaldo expected to be among the distinguished personnel in attendance for the 15th awards ceremony.
Representatives from one of Ronaldo’s former clubs Real Madrid, the current European champions, will also be present – including England midfielder Jude Bellingham and Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Meanwhile, Barcelona and Spain winger Lamine Yamal and former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand are among the other high-profile guests from clubs and organisations around the world.
The Dubai International Sports Conference, organised under the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, will take place alongside the annual Globe Soccer Dubai Awards.
Since its inception in 2010, the awards have brought together football’s most prominent stakeholders for an evening of celebration across domestic, regional, and international levels, while the co-located Conference provides the industry a platform to discuss and explore some of the key issues of the sport.
The theme of this year’s summit centres around "Talented Football", which will be moderated by CNN’s Amanda Davis, who will co-host the main event alongside Tom Urquhart once more, with Ronaldo, Bellingham and Courtois the guest speakers.
On the night, there will be 15 main awards presented, including Best Men’s Player, Best Women’s Player, Best Men’s Club, Best Women’s Club, the Maradona Award and five Career Awards.