Gary Lineker wins Vázquez Montalbán International Journalism Award

Gary Winston Lineker has need named winner of the Manuel Vázquez Montalbán International Journalism Award for Sport, 2021. The former English footballer, who was at FC Barcelona from 1986 to 1989, went into media after hanging up his boots. For the BBC he has presented such programmes as Gary Lineker’s Golden Boots and, for which he is most famous, Match of the Day. He is currently an ambassador for LaLiga and analyses the Spanish championship for British and Irish viewers on LaLiga TV.

Gary Lineker’s eloquence was already noted when he was a player. One of his most famous quotes came after his England team lost to Germany in the demi-final of the Italia ’90 World Cup: “Football is a simple game – 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.”

In his many years in television, he has always known how to get across the experience he gained on the pitch.

The jury, made up of Mònica Terribas, Ramon Besa, Sergi Pàmies, Jordi Basté, Jaume Pujol-Galcerán, Ernest Folch, Borja de Riquer, Santiago Segurola and Josep Maria Solé-Sabaté, wished to appraise Gary Linker remarkable ability as a communicator, and his witty yet critical way of interpreting the football world.

The award has existed since 2004 and honours journalist and writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. It is split into two categories of journalism, cultural/political and sports. The latter is awarded by the Association of Catalan Journalists and costs of €6,000 and a commemorative sculpture.

The presentation ceremony will be held in the Auditori 1899 at the Camp Nou on a date to be decided.

Previous winners of the Vázquez Montalbán International Journalism Award for Sport are as follows:

· 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

There was no award in 2015 and 2016, and it was also cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic.