FIFA Order of Merit
The FIFA Order of Merit
Awarded by FIFA
TypeOrder of merit
EligibilityAny individual
Awarded for"significant contribution to the development of association football"
StatusActive
Grades1
Statistics
First induction1984
Last induction2012
Total inductees121


The FIFA Order of Merit is the highest honour awarded by FIFA. The award is presented at the annual FIFA congress. It is normally awarded to people who are considered to have made a significant contribution to association football.

At FIFA's centennial congress they made one award for every decade of their existence. These awards were also handed out to fans, organisations, clubs, and one to African Football. These were referred to as the FIFA Centennial Order of Merit.

The winner does not have to be directly involved with football to receive it. One such notable non-footballing personality was Nelson Mandela who won it for bringing South Africa back to international football.

Recipients

Personalities directly involved in football

Associations

Recipient Year Nationality Notes
Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol 2004  Uruguay Centennial Award in 2004
African Football 2004 Centennial Award in 2004
International Football Association Board 2004 Centennial Award in 2004

Clubs

Recipient Year Nationality Notes
Sheffield F.C. 2004  England Centennial Award in 2004[1]
Real Madrid C.F. 2004  Spain Centennial Award in 2004

Players

Pelé was named Athlete of Century by the International Olympic Committee in 1999
Johan Cruyff received the award for his contributions as both footballer and a coach
Recipient Year Nationality Notes
Franz Beckenbauer* 1984, 2004  Germany Centennial Award in 2004
Bobby Charlton 1984  England
Pelé 1984, 2004  Brazil Centennial Award in 2004
Dino Zoff 1984  Italy
Lev Yashin 1988  Soviet Union
Antonio Carbajal 1992  Mexico
Stanley Matthews 1992  England
Francisco Varallo 1994  Argentina
Alfredo Di Stefano 1994  Argentina
Fritz Walter 1994  Germany
Ferenc Puskás 1994  Hungary
Eusébio 1994  Portugal
Just Fontaine 1994  France
Gunn Nyborg 1994  Norway
Obdulio Varela 1994  Uruguay
Zico[2] 1996  Brazil
Bobby Moore 1996  England
Salif Keita 1996  Mali
Michelle Akers 1998  United States
Larbi Benbarek 1998  Morocco
Gilmar 1998  Brazil
Gerd Müller 1998  Germany
Ivan Toplak 2000  Slovenia
David Kipiani 2002  Georgia
Pradip Kumar Banerjee 2004  India Centennial Award in 2004
Lee Ramoon 2004  Cayman Islands
Paolo Maldini 2008  Italy
Bobby Robson 2009  England
Johan Cruijff* 2010  Netherlands
Steve Sumner 2010  New Zealand Centennial Award in 2004
Alcides Ghiggia 2010  Uruguay

Managers

Oscar Tabaréz is the last person to receive the FIFA Order of Merit for his contributions as a coach
Recipient Year Nationality Notes
Franz Beckenbauer* 1984, 2004  Germany Centennial Award in 2004
Helmut Schön 1984  Germany
Mário Zagallo 1992  Brazil
Karl Heinz Weigang 1998  Germany
Miljan Miljanić* 2002  Serbia
Valeriy Lobanovskyi 2003  Ukraine
Sein Hlaing 2004  Myanmar
Kazimierz Górski* 2006  Poland
Nodar Akhalkatsi 2008  Georgia
Johan Cruijff* 2010  Netherlands
Winston Chung Fah 2012  Jamaica
Óscar Tabárez 2012  Uruguay

Referees

Recipient Year Nationality Notes
Stanley Rous* 1984  England
Nikolay Latyshev 1987  Soviet Union
Thomas Wharton 1992  Scotland
Farouk Bouzo 1996  Syria
Javier Arriaga Muñiz 1996  Mexico
Fernando G. Álvarez 2005  Philippines
Hari Raj Naicker 2012  Fiji

Administrators

The 6th President of FIFA Stanley Rous was also serving is the international referee
Santiago Bernabeu is generally considered the one to whom much of the credit can be given for transforming Real Madrid C.F. into the most successful football club in Spain and in Europe
Miljan Miljanić became the recipient of the award posthumously for his contributions as a coach and the President of the Football Federation of Yugoslavia/Serbia
Jules Rimet is FIFA's longest-serving president and the initiator of the first FIFA World Cup
Recipient Year Nationality Notes
Stanley Rous* 1984  England
Mihajlo Andrejević 1984  Yugoslavia
Paulo Machado de Carvalho 1987  Brazil
Ferdinand Hidalgo 1987  Ecuador
Teófilo Salinas Fuller 1987  Peru
Marat Gramov 1987  Soviet Union
João Lyra Filho 1988  Brazil
Pedro Escartín 1988  Spain
Yidnekatchew Tessema 1988  Ethiopia
K. Ziauddin 1992  India
Shizuo Fujita 1992  Japan
Juan José Russo 1992  Argentina
Abdel Aziz Mostafa 1992  Egypt
Arthur George 1994  Australia
Chen Chengda 1994  China
Abdel Halim Muhammad 1994  Sudan
Gene Edwards 1994  United States
Vitali Smirnov 1995  Russia
Maurice Burlaz 1996  France
Henry Fok 1998  Hong Kong
Julio Grondona 1998  Argentina
Vyacheslav Koloskov 1998  Russia
Bert Millichip 1998  England
Guillermo Cañedo de la Bárcena 1998  Mexico
Abilio d'Almeida 2000  Brazil
Josep Lluís Núñez 2000  Spain
Nabon Noor 2000  Indonesia
Azrikam Miltchan 2000  Israel
Horace Burrell 2000  Jamaica
Faisal bin Fahd 2000  Saudi Arabia
Etubom Oyo Orok Oyo 2000  Nigeria
Nikita Simonyan 2000  Russia
Juan Antonio Samaranch 2001  Spain
José Ermírio de Moraes Filho 2002  Brazil
Jim Fleming 2002  Canada
Mohamed Khalil El Deeb 2002  Egypt
Santiago Bernabéu 2002  Spain
Miljan Miljanić 2002  Serbia
Hans Ernst Bangerter 2002  Switzerland
René Hüssy 2002  Switzerland
Miljan Miljanić* 2002  Serbia
Johnny Warren 2004  Australia Centennial Award in 2004[3]
João Havelange 2004  Brazil Centennial Award in 2004
Jules Rimet 2004  France Centennial Award in 2004
Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah 2004  Kuwait
Jan Peeters 2006  Belgium
Issa Hayatou 2006  Cameroon
Egidius Braun 2006  Germany
Oscar Thamar Torres 2006  Guatemala
Saburō Kawabuchi 2006  Japan
Hamzah Abu Samah 2006  Malaysia
Guyedre Wamedjo 2006  New Caledonia
Per Ravn Omdal 2006  Norway
Kazimierz Górski* 2006  Poland
Aleksei Paramonov 2006  Russia
Alan Rothenberg 2006  United States
Nicolás Abumohor 2008  Chile
Zhang Jilong 2008  China
Isaac David Sasso Sasso 2008  Costa Rica
Nodar Akhalkatsi 2008  Georgia
Helen Leuthardt-Petermann 2008  Switzerland
Lisle Austin 2010  Barbados
Holger Obermann 2010  Germany
Junji Ogura 2010  Japan
Molefi Oliphant 2010  South Africa
Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder 2012  Germany
György Szepesi 2012  Hungary
Ahmad Shah of Pahang 2012  Malaysia
Godfried Foli Ekue 2012  Togo

Other individuals

Recipient Year Nationality Notes
Roberto Marinho 1987  Brazil
Everwijn van Steeden 1987  England
Emilio Azcárraga Milmo 1987  Mexico
Diego Lucero 1987  Uruguay
Pedro Ramírez Vázquez 1988  Mexico
Karl-Heinz Heimann 1992  Germany
Walter Lutz 1992  Switzerland
Henry Kissinger 1996  United States
Douglas Ivester 1996  United States
Udo Jürgens 1996  Germany
Fernand Sastre 1998  France
Nelson Mandela 1998  South Africa
Erwin Himmelseher 2000  Germany
Kofi Annan 2002  Ghana
Thaksin Shinawatra 2004  Thailand
Robert Louis-Dreyfus 2006  France
Otto Schily 2006  Germany
Rudi Michel 2006  Germany
Mohammed Yusuf 2008  Fiji
Alpha Oumar Konaré 2008  Mali
Thabo Mbeki 2010  South Africa

Other collectives

Recipient Year Nationality Notes
Television 2004 Centennial Award in 2004
The City of Sheffield 2004  England Centennial Award in 2004
Fans of Japan 2004  Japan Centennial Award in 2004
Fans of Korea 2004  South Korea Centennial Award in 2004

Commercial brands

Recipient Year Nationality Notes
Adidas 2004  Germany Centennial Award in 2004
Coca-Cola 2004  United States Centennial Award in 2004
Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive 2004  France Centennial Award in 2004

References

  1. ^ "Honours of Oldest Soccer Team in World". Sheffield FC. 20 January 2018. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Anniversary with nine FIFA Order of Merit Awards". FIFA. 9 August 1996. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Global game honours fighter Warren". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 July 2004. Archived from the original on 28 April 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2018.

External links

FIFA
Categories