This Thursday, the FC Barcelona senior team captains collected the Barça Players Prize 2020, awarded annually by the Agrupació de Jugadors del Club. Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué, Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba collected the trophy on behalf of the whole squad, in reflection of the exceptional way in which they dealt with the difficulties of the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic. There is usually one individual recipient selected each year, but in 2020 the award was given to the entire men’s and women’s team squads given the extraordinary circumstances of the year. Due to the virus, the award could not be presented in person until now
The trophy is a replica of the shirt worn in the 1920s, and was handed over by the president of the Barça Players Group, Ramon Alfonseda, joined by the vice-president of FC Barcelona, Rafael Yuste. The players were also handed honorary membership cards of the group in recognition of how they donate 0.5% of their salaries to it.
The jury wished to highlight how the team, both as a whole and individually, reacted in such exemplary fashion to the state of alarm declared between February and June 2020, both in the form of individual and group gestures on a financial level and by participating in different initiatives both organised by FC Barcelona and by other groups, in support of the club’s workers, hospitals, social entities, health workers and the scientific community.
Previous winners
The Barça Players Award was created in 2010 to honour an FC Barcelona player who has best exemplified fair play throughout the season. The members hold a vote to select candidates and an expert jury then picks the winner.
- 2019-20: Men’s and women’s first team squads
- 2018-19: Alexia y Ter Stegen
- 2017-18: Ivan Rakitic
- 2016-17: Sergi Roberto
- 2015-16: Leo Messi
- 2014-15: Javier Mascherano
- 2013-14: Carles Puyol
- 2012-13: Xavi Hernández
- 2011-12: Xavi Hernández
- 2010-11: Andrés Iniesta
- 2009-10: Bojan Krkic