Messi, Lampard set for Globe awards in Dubai

FC Barcelona in Tokyo after beating River Plate in Yokohama, near Tokyo, last week.

World Club champions FC Barcelona's superstar Lionel Messi is due to make his appearance in Dubai tonight during the Globe Soccer Awards at the Madinat Jumeirah Resort.
Messi, four-time World Player of the Year and his Barcelona teammates are also in the running for the Club of the Year award alongside Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk for the best club honour.
Messi, who is named in the trio of finalists for the individual honour with Barca teammate Neymar and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, is almost a foregone conclusion after the latest gem delivered by the Argentine in the Club World Cup final against Argentina's River Plate, in Japan a few days ago. Last year Cristiano Ronaldo won the Player of the Year award here and he too may be in the running this time, according to reports earlier.
The main categories at the Globe Soccer Awards 2015 are: Best Club of the Year; Best Player of the Year; Best Referee of the Year; Best GCC Player of the Year - presented by Kooora; Player Career Award; Best Agent of the Year; Best Coach of the Year; Director career Award; Best Club of the Year; Best Media Attraction in Football - presented by Dubai Sports Channel; Best Player of the Year; Best Academy of the Year; and the Best European Player in Asia - promoted directly by UEFA together with the Asian Confederation.
There is also a new category for the Best Gulf Player. A shortlist of finalists has Mohammed Al Sahlawi, Yasir Alshahrani (both Saudi Arabia) and the UAE's Omar Abdulrahman included.
Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo, Antonio Conte and Diego Maradona are among the scheduled speakers at the conference.
FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and director Javier Bordas, are also due for the Globe Soccer Awards and the conference thereafter. The jury of the awards includes well known names like Luis Figo, Demetrio Albertini, Fabio Capello, Antonio Conte, and Adriano Galliani.
moni@khaleejtimes.com