Vincent Garcia, editor-in-chief of France Football, looks back on the creation of the Sócrates Award and discusses the collaboration with Peace and Sport.
Can you explain the origins of the Sócrates Award, and why you chose this name for a trophy that rewards commitment or a cause?
The Sócrates Award was created in 2022. It’s an award designed to be open to the world, to society. It also shows another face of footballers, far from the cliché of the self-centered, selfish player. The Sócrates Award highlights a footballer—male or female—who is committed to helping others, giving their time, energy, and money to a sound project. Often, they do this discreetly.
These projects, rooted in the world of football, have a considerable positive impact on society and the communities these athletes come from. The purpose of the Sócrates Award is to highlight and give visibility to these inspiring initiatives, which demonstrate that football can be a powerful driver of social transformation.
It’s also important to add that with the Sócrates Award, we can reward causes as well.
The name of the award was chosen because Sócrates represents a sense of freedom and commitment. He was a great player on and off the field. He fought for democracy in Brazil during the military regime. Sócrates was always politically and socially engaged. We thought that naming the trophy after him, in association with Raí, one of Sócrates’ brothers, was a good idea. Raí is involved in the discussions about the projects and in the selection of the laureate, alongside Peace and Sport.
“Peace and Sport knows what makes a strong project”
How does the collaboration with Peace and Sport work when choosing the winner?
It’s very important that Peace and Sport works with us, because they really have a vision of the projects as a whole. They have the technical expertise to identify strong projects. When we created the Sócrates Award, we wanted it to have real meaning—it couldn’t just be a PR operation or a poorly designed initiative.
Peace and Sport assesses the quality and seriousness of the projects and selects the best applications according to pre-defined criteria. Peace and Sport submits 4 or 5 projects, which are carefully studied. Afterwards, we all meet—including Raí—to validate the selection of the Sócrates Award laureate.
“Through the Sócrates Award, we can reward projects, but we can also reward causes.”
Sadio Mané, Vinicius, Jennifer Hermoso… Can you explain what you aimed to highlight during the first three editions of the Sócrates Award?
For Sadio Mané in 2022, we wanted to recognize his commitment to his home village in Senegal. He invests his time and money in building schools and a high school there.
For Vinicius, we rewarded a very solid project. He invested in educational support initiatives in Brazil, in the disadvantaged neighborhood where he grew up. Through his foundation, he has teamed up with teachers who know the local context to develop new teaching methods. His project is structured and well thought out.
Last year, with the Sócrates Award, we rewarded a cause. Spanish player Jennifer Hermoso was the victim of sexual abuse by the president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, after the 2023 Women’s World Cup final. She was under enormous pressure from her own federation not to testify against him. It was very difficult for her, but she carried through, filed a complaint, and obtained his conviction and a fine for sexual assault. It was important to recognize her, and through her, the fight against sexual violence. Women are an essential part of football and of our Ballon d’Or© ceremony.
Have you noticed an increased commitment from players in recent years?
There have always been footballers, and athletes in general, engaged in causes or projects to help others. It has always existed, even if it’s not the majority. The commitment of footballers is excellent because it helps break down the image of selfishness that can, rightly or wrongly, be associated with the sport.
Is the Sócrates Award also a way to show that in your media, you don’t just talk about sport from a purely competitive angle?
At France Football and L’Équipe, it’s indeed important to show all sides of football and not limit ourselves to results and trophies. We’ve always done that—we cover sport in its entirety, often through investigations and reports that go far beyond the mere results.
Simon Bardet – Peace and Sport