Concacaf Launches New Annual Awards
Concacaf has announced that in 2021 it will launch a brand new awards program focusing exclusively on two individual player categories: Concacaf Men’s Player of the Year and Concacaf Women’s Player of the Year.
The organisation said, “The Confederation for football in North, Central America and the Caribbean is midway through the 2021 edition of its flagship men’s national team competition, the Gold Cup. After a thrilling Group Stage from July 10-20, the Quarterfinals will be played this weekend and will showcase some of the best men’s football talent in the region.
“Full details of the 2021 Gold Cup Quarterfinals, which begin today with Qatar vs El Salvador and Mexico vs Honduras can be found here.
“The new Concacaf Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year awards will be determined based on the performance of players in 2021, including in the following matches and competitions:
- Domestic league play for clubs
- Performances in Concacaf competitions
- Performances in FIFA competitions [including Olympic Football Tournaments]
- Performances in Concacaf Qualifiers for FIFA Men’s and Women’s World Cups
- Performances for Concacaf Men’s or Women’s national teams in FIFA and Concacaf approved friendly matches
“The winner of the 2021 Concacaf Men’s Player of the Year and the winner of the 2021 Concacaf Women’s Player of the Year will be announced in early 2022.
“To be eligible to be shortlisted for these exciting new awards, players must meet one of the following criteria:
- Have played for a Concacaf Member Association’s senior Men’s or Women’s national team [in aforementioned eligible competitions and matches].
- Regardless of nationality, have played for a club [current or most recent season] in a Concacaf and FIFA sanctioned top division Men’s or Women’s professional league in the Concacaf region.
“There is so much outstanding men’s and women’s football talent from across Concacaf and these new awards will allow us to fully recognize and celebrate the very best players in our region,” said Concacaf President and FIFA Vice President Victor Montagliani. “With this being our 60th anniversary year and with an exciting Gold Cup underway, as well as both the men’s and women’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers commencing in 2021, we believe this year is the right time to add these exciting new awards and look forward to engaging fans across the region as we roll them out,” added Montagliani.
“Following a shortlisting process, further details of which will be announced in due course, Concacaf will follow its “football first” philosophy with a voting process that will ensure players, coaches, media and fans determine the winners of these new awards.
“The voting process for the Concacaf Men’s Player of the Year will work as follows:
Concacaf Men’s Player of the Year [100 votes total]
- 41 votes: one vote for each Concacaf Member Association’s MNT Head Coach
- 41 votes: one vote for each Concacaf Member Association’s MNT Captain
- 9 votes: one vote each for nine representative members of the media from the Concacaf region [membership to be determined]
- 9 votes: fan voting through www.concacaf.com. The player with most fan votes will receive 4 votes in the overall voting process, second place 3 votes, third place 2 votes [regardless of how many people vote online]
“The voting process for the Concacaf Women’s Player of the Year will work as follows:
Concacaf Women’s Player of the Year [100 votes total]
- 41 votes: one vote for each Concacaf Member Association’s WNT Head Coach
- 41 votes: one vote for each Concacaf Member Association’s WNT Captain
- 9 votes: one vote each for nine representative members of the media from the Concacaf region [membership to be determined]
- 9 votes: fan voting through www.concacaf.com. The player with most fan votes will receive 4 votes in the overall voting process, second place 3 votes, third place 2 votes [regardless of how many people vote online].
“Further details on the awards process, including how the shortlisting process will take place and when voting opens will be communicated in due course.”
