The ceremony was earlier scheduled to be held in Milan on September 21 but has now been postponed.
FIFA. (Photo: Twitter/@FIFAcom)
FIFA has cancelled its The Best awards this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, the world’s apex football governing body confirmed on Friday.
The ceremony was earlier scheduled to be held in Milan on September 21 but has now been postponed.
It is unclear if or when the ceremony will be rearranged, with a FIFA spokesperson saying that “the consequences and different alternatives are being considered”.
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To cancel the ceremony in 2020 could be a good idea because no football matches have been played for the past two months with the future remaining uncertain as the vaccine to cure the virus hasn’t been found yet.
Meanwhile, Milan and the Lombardy region have been the epicentre of Italy’s coronavirus outbreak, one of the worst in Europe in terms of deaths and infections.
The number of infected ones in Italy is over 2 lakh while more than 31 thousand have lost their lives so far.
About The Best awards 2019:
Lionel Messi had defeated Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil Van Dijk to win the FIFA Men’s Player of the year award for the sixth time while US forward Megan Rapinoe had taken home the FIFA Women’s Player award of the year at the Best FIFA Football Awards held in Milan last year.
The Argentine had already won the award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.
Rapinoe was felicitated with the award for leading the US to the women’s World Cup title in July. She scored six goals in the tournament, earning her the Golden Boot for the tournament’s top scorer and the Golden Ball as the top player.
(With inputs from AFP)
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