What is the Socrates Award? Past winners and nominees for 2024

The 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony will recognise the brilliance of the world’s best with an array of different prizes.

The sport’s evolution beyond Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo adds plenty of intrigue in regard to the victor of the main award, but the 28 October ceremony will also celebrate the off-field work of one selfless star via the Socrates Award.

The prize pays homage to a former great revered for his commitment to social causes and the third winner of the new award will be named at this year’s ceremony.

Let’s delve a little bit deeper into the prize you might not know too much about.

France Football, the organisers of the Ballon d’Or, confirmed in 2022 they were adding a humanitarian award to their ceremony named after former Brazilian footballer Socrates.

“The Socrates Prize will identify the best social initiative by committed champions,” a statement from the magazine read.

The initiatives recognised as part of this award are wide-ranging, including the promotion of social integration, environmental protection and aid delivery to conflict victims.

We’re not talking about the philosopher here, but one of football’s greatest ever midfielders. Socrates represented Brazil 60 times between 1979 and 1986, captaining his country at the 1982 World Cup.

On the pitch, Socrates was revered for his grace and elegance but was a regular contributor in the final third, too, and described by author Jonathan Wilson as the “brains” of an all-time great Brazil team. He was a special character drenched in eccentricity and his rebellious nature saw him take a keen interest in a number of social issues.

Socrates was relentless on the humanitarian front and a significant portion of his legacy traces back to off-field work. He opposed Brazil’s military government in the 1980s via the Corinthians Democracy movement which protested against the regime’s treatment of footballers and aimed to re-democratise the country.

“Socrates always believed in the power of sport to mobilise and transform society to make it more equal,” said younger brother Rai in a 2022 statement. “He demonstrated this as a player through his fight for the re-democratisation of Brazil.

“11 [now 13] years after his death, he remains the symbol of the champion committed to a more just world.”

The Socrates Award was first handed out in 2022, so there have been two previous winners before the 2024 ceremony on 28 October.

Modern-day Liverpool icon Sadio Mane, who’s now plying his trade in Saudi Arabia following a disappointing spell at Bayern Munich, became the maiden victor for his humanitarian work in Senegal.

Mane donated to the Senegalese National Committee to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic and was a major contributor to the building of a public hospital and fundings of several schools in his home village of Bambali.

“I’m just pleased to be here. I don’t like talking about what I do, but I do what I can for my people and try to improve things in my country,” Mane said upon receiving the prize in the French capital.

Brazilian superstar Vinicius Junior was the second winner in 2023. The 2024 Ballon d’Or favourite has set up the Vini Jr Institute which uses technology to educate underprivileged children in his homeland. Vinicius invested more than €1m into his foundation last year and that figure is expected to rise to as much as €2.5m come the end of 2024.

The Madrid star was also recognised for his fight against racism having been subject to abuse on several occasions at stadia across Spain.

“We must raise our voices, always a little more and together. I want a world where a father conveys to his son that being racist is bad,” Vinicius said after claiming the award.

Every Socrates Award winner

Unlike the other awards handed out during the Ballon d’Or ceremony, no nominees are announced for the 2024 Socrates Award.

The winner is decided by a jury made up of former Brazil internationals and Socrates’ younger brother, Rai, as well as representatives of France Football and leaders of the Monaco-based Peace and Sport organisation.

READ MORE ON THE 2024 BALLON D’OR NOMINEES & FAVOURITES