FIFA President Gianni Infantino revealed on Monday that Dubai will serve as the venue for the 2026 FIFA Best Awards ceremony.
The announcement came during the World Sports Summit in Dubai, where Infantino emphasized the unifying power of football on the global stage.
“I can announce here a new partnership we have closed together to honour the best players, coaches and teams, here in Dubai,” Infantino stated. “We have enjoyed the sport, and now we will enjoy even more the unity the sport brings to the entire world.”
The FIFA Best Awards recognize outstanding achievements in world football, celebrating top male and female players, coaches, and teams. Recipients are selected through a comprehensive voting system involving fans, media professionals, team captains, and national team coaches who assess performances throughout the year.
The most recent ceremony took place in Doha, where French forward Ousmane Dembele claimed the men’s player of the year honor, while Spain’s Aitana Bonmati received the women’s award.
During the summit, Infantino also addressed criticism regarding World Cup ticket pricing, arguing that costs reflect unprecedented global demand for the tournament. He disclosed that FIFA received approximately 150 million ticket requests within 15 days of sales opening for the upcoming World Cup—roughly 10 million requests daily for the six to seven million available tickets.
“In the almost 100 years of the World Cup, FIFA has sold 44 million tickets in total,” Infantino noted. “So, in two weeks we could have filled 300 years of World Cups.”
Group stage tickets for the upcoming tournament are priced up to three times higher than those for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, with final match tickets in New Jersey starting at £3,119.
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