Top Performers from Across the Confederation to Be Honored; Web Voting in Fan and Journalist Categories Commences Immediately

Miami– The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) is pleased to announce the first-annual CONCACAF Awards, to honor the year’s stand-out performers and achievements from across Confederation events.

The awards, which will be presented for the first time in 2013 and will continue on an annual basis, have been designed to recognize the top players, coaches and referees in women’s and men’s soccer competing in events within the CONCACAF region.

“We are delighted to introduce the first edition of the annual CONCACAF Awards, which will provide rightful and much-deserved recognition to our region’s best players, coaches and referees in the women’s and men’s games,” said CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb. “This event promises to become a prominent date on the football calendar for players and fans alike.”

The CONCACAF Awards will honor players and achievements in CONCACAF-sanctioned tournaments and competitions involving the Confederation’s national teams at all levels, including FIFA World Cup qualifying for both genders, in all age categories. Performances also eligible for recognition include those achieved in professional club football leagues within the CONCACAF Member Associations, as well as the CONCACAF Champions League.

Players, coaches and referees of any nationality are eligible to be nominated, so long as they meet at least one of the following criteria:

Have played/coached/refereed for a CONCACAF member national team in a FIFA-sanctioned international competition OR

Have played/coached/refereed in an official CONCACAF tournament at club or national level OR

Have played/coached/refereed in a domestic league within CONCACAF’s territory:

–   A player/coach/referee from the CONCACAF region, who does not meet the above criteria (i.e. a player whose only performances in the past year came in a European or Asian league etc.), would not be eligible;

–   Goal of the Year applies only to goals scored during CONCACAF official competitions;

–   Voters should base their judgments solely on performances in the above categorized competitions from January 1, 2013 to present.

This year’s award categories include Male and Female Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year, Referee of the Year, and Goal of the Year. In each class, a semifinal list of 10 nominees has already been determined through voting of Technical Directors from each of CONCACAF’s 41 Member Associations and the CONCACAF Technical Study Group, which analyzes tactics and rates performances at all official CONCACAF tournaments.

The semifinal lists, which can be found here along with the fan voting page, have now been submitted for final voting among three important stake-holding segments of the Confederation: Member Associations’ national team coaches and captains, media and fans. The national team coaches and captains from across the Confederation will account for one third of the final vote, and accredited members of CONCACAF’s media circle will contribute another third of the tally. Fans from around the region and the world are invited to vote online for the final one-third segment of the vote.

“These CONCACAF Awards are built around an inclusionary approach to voting, by reaching out to multiple contributors including our valued fans,” said General Secretary Enrique Sanz. “We thank these groups for their efforts, and as a result we can be sure that those honored in December will be deserving of their prizes from the standpoints of those important stake-holding groups.”

Fans can have their say in the voting by visiting the fan voting page on CONCACAF.com. Media should cast their ballot via the dedicated link to be sent separately to media members on CONCACAF’s distribution list. To apply to join the media list, please contact [email protected].

Final votes in each of the six categories will be tallied by mid-December, with three finalists elected in each category. Winners will be announced by the end of the year, via CONCACAF.com.

Related story:

CONCACAF announces new recognitions awards by media

Miami (Tuesday, November 26, 2013) –CONCACAF have announced that this year the Confederation will, for the first time, recognize the outstanding achievements of players, coaches and referees from across our region with a number of prestigious awards based on performances in all our competitions.  As could be expected, media members will play a vital role in the decision-making process for each prize, accounting for an important segment of the final vote.

This year’s award categories include Male and Female Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year, Referee of the Year, and Goal of the Year. In each class, a semifinal list of 10 nominees has already been determined through voting of Technical Directors from each of CONCACAF’s 41 Member Associations and the CONCACAF Technical Study Group, which analyzes tactics and rates performances at all official CONCACAF tournaments.

The semifinal lists have now been submitted for final voting among three important stake-holding segments of the Confederation: member associations’ national team coaches and captains, media, and fans. Each segment will account for one-third of the final vote.

Have played/coached/refereed in an official CONCACAF tournament at club or national level.

OR Have played/coached/refereed for a CONCACAF member national team in FIFA-sanctioned international competition.

OR Have played/coached/refereed in a domestic league within CONCACAF’s territory.

– A player/coach/referee from the CONCACAF region, who does not meet the above criteria (ie a player whose only performances in the past year came in a European or Asian league etc.) would not be eligible.

– Goal of the Year applies only to goals scored during CONCACAF official competitions.

– Voters will base their judgments solely on performances in the above categorized competitions from January 1, 2013 until now.