Laureus Sports Award: Lionel Messi Named Sportsman Of The Year

Paris Saint Germain forward, Lionel Messi has been named World Sportsman of the Year in the 2023 Laureus Sports Award in Paris.

Following his role in leading Argentina to the World Cup victory in 2022, Lionel Messi became the sole winner of this year’s edition of the Sportsman of the Year for the first time in his football career.

Naija News recalls that the 35-year-old PSG forward first won the award jointly with Lewis Hamilton in the 2020 edition.

The fact that Messi received the Golden Ball for being the best player in the Qatar World Cup, where he won the tournament for the first time in his illustrious career, contributed to his emergence as the sole winner of the award.

He won the award ahead of PSG and France forward, Kylian Mbappe who the Argentine also defeated in the World Cup final in December.

Also, during the award ceremony on Monday night, Messi accepted the Laureus prize for Team of the Year on behalf of the Argentina national team.

After receiving the award, Messi said: “This is a special honour, particularly as the Laureus World Sports Awards are in Paris this year, the city that has welcomed my family since we came here in 2021.

“I want to thank all my team-mates, not only from the national team but also at PSG – I have achieved none of this alone and I am grateful to be able to share everything with them.

“I want to thank the Laureus Academy – what makes these Awards so special to us as athletes is the fact they are voted for by these incredible champions, my heroes, and this puts my sporting achievements in true context.

“This is the first time I have been the sole winner of the Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award and after a year when we finally won another prize we had been chasing for a long time, at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, it’s an honour to be able to hold this Laureus Statuette.”