Football culture magazine ‘Panenka‘ wins 2025 Manuel Vázquez Montalbán International Prize for Sports Journalism

FC Barcelona and the Association of Catalan Journalists announce that the founders and team behind football culture magazine Panenka have been named as winners of the 2025 Manuel Vázquez Montalbán International Prize for Sports Journalism. Founded in 2011 and with over 140 published editions, this journalism project continues a specific way of reporting on sport, linked to a tradition tied to the legacy of Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, whereby sport blends with cultural, political, and social aspects in the communities where it is played. With digitalisation currently reigning supreme, the jury noted that the Panenka magazine project represents a space for reflection that helps put sport into context and aims to give it a literary angle. Within a season when the Club is celebrating its 125th anniversary and as part of the present and future dialogue about the entity, the jury for the Manuel Vázquez Montalbán International Prize for Sports Journalism wants to acknowledge the work of a group that represents a new way of returning to classic forms of journalism in the traditions of Montalbán himself. In line with the Club's ethos, this award aims to provide generational recognition to the group of young journalists who were brave enough to commit to the Panenka magazine project 14 years ago.

The award ceremony will be on April 24 as part of the live broadcast of the La Llotja del 125 videopodcast on “Barça and literature” at the Auditori 1899 (7.00pm CEST). The La Llotja del 125 is the new monthly videopodcast from Barça One that celebrates the nature and impact of FC Barcelona as part of the Club's 125 anniversary. Every past edition of the La Llotja del 125 can be watched and listened to here. 

A shared initiative by FC Barcelona and the Association of Catalan Journalists, the prize – in memory and tribute to the journalist and writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán – has been awarded since 2004, and there are two categories – cultural/political and sports journalism.

Past winners of the prize

The previous winners of the Manuel Vázquez Montalbán International Prize for Sports Journalism are:

2004: Patrick Mignon
2005: Joaquim Maria Puyal
2006: Juan Villoro
2007: Simon Kuper
2008: Candido Cannavò
2009: Ramon Besa
2010: Eduardo Galeano
2011: Santiago Segurola
2012: Nick Hornby
2013: Sergi Pàmies
2014: Eduardo Gonçalves de Andrade ‘Tostão’
2017: Michael Robinson
2018: Emanuela Audisio
2019: Jorge Valdano
2022-23: Gary Lineker
2024: Sally Jenkins

The prize wasn't awarded in 2015, 2016, and 2021, and it was also cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.