Leo Messi and Aitana Bonmati are the only footballers to have received the prestigious Laureus Sportsman of the Year award. This is an incredible achievement. This award highlights his extraordinary skills, commitment and notable achievements in the sports industry.

Its affiliation with Barcelona’s esteemed La Masia program further highlights the club’s long history of developing and producing outstanding talent. Their achievements are testament to their extraordinary skills and the lasting influence they have had on football.

The best tennis player in the world, Novak Djokovic, and two footballers, Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland, are nominated for the 2024 Laureus Award (the Oscar of sport).

Messi and Djokovic will face each other for the 2024 Laureus trophy. Image: Getty

The six contenders for the title of “Male Athlete of the Year” are Messi, Haaland (soccer), Djokovic (tennis), Mondo Duplantis (athletics), Noah Lyles (athletics) and Max Verstappen (motorsports). The Laureus organizing committee published the list of candidates on February 26.

Aitana Bonmati (soccer), Faith Kipyegon (track and field), Sha’Carri Richardson (track and field), Iga Swiatek (tennis) and Mikaela Shiffrin (track and field) are the five candidates for the title of “Female Athlete of the Year”.

Messi entered the history of American sports

The final winner will be declared in April in Madrid. This award was previously given to Messi in 2023.

Although this was Haaland’s first nomination for the award. In addition, Djokovic has four victories to his credit: in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2019. If Djokovic triumphs once again, he will equal Roger Federer’s record. With five awards, the renowned Swiss tennis player holds the record for most Laureus awards.

In the past, Messi and Haaland fought for important championships such as FIFA The Best and the Ballon d’Or, which Messi won. Will Haaland be able to surpass Messi once again?

It is well known that Laureus offers additional award categories in addition to the two for the best male and female athletes, such as: the best sports team in the world, the most notable comeback of the year, the revolutionary phenomenon of the year, the Paralympic athlete of the anus…