UEFA announces new annual player awards

 

 

UEFA has announced the introduction of five new players’ awards, aimed at recognising the top performers in UEFA club competitions each season. These new accolades will be presented alongside the annual UEFA Men’s Player of the Year and UEFA Women’s Player of the Year awards in Monaco at the end of August.
The following will be presented during the UEFA Champions League group stage draw on 24 August:
Goalkeeper of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season
Defender of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season
Midfielder of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season
Attacker of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season
The following will be presented during the UEFA Europa League group stage draw on 25 August:
The five new competition-specific prizes will complement the existing UEFA Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year awards, which will be presented during the UEFA Champions League draw ceremony as in previous years. These are for all players who have played in Europe and are based on performances during the previous season across all competitions, both domestically and internationally, at club and national-team levels.

How voting works

The jury consists of coaches of clubs in the 2016/17 group stages of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, together with 55 journalists from the European Sports Media (ESM) group representing each of UEFA’s member associations. Coaches are not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
The shortlist for all four positional UEFA Champions League awards, along with the shortlist for the UEFA Europa League accolade, will be announced on 4 August. The three nominees for the overall UEFA Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year honours will be revealed on 15 August following the 2017 UEFA Women’s EURO.

UEFA President’s Award

Finally, the 2017 UEFA President’s Award will be presented in Monaco to Francesco Totti, in recognition of the Italian footballer’s outstanding career.