Football fans from around the world are to get their chance to vote for which players they feel deserve recognition, when nominations open this week for the first International Football Awards.

From December 22nd until the end of February 2009, members of the public can nominate players free of charge in 16 categories at the Awards’ web site – www.internationalfootballawards.com. These nominations will be whittled down to shortlists of four in each category and the Official IFA 2008 nominees will be announced in April at press conferences in eight major cities: Buenos Aires, Rio De Janeiro, Dubai, London, Cape Town, Geneva, Paris and Tokyo. The public will then be able to vote, again free of charge, to choose the winner in each category.

In addition to the People’s Choice awards, three judges’ awards will also be given. Pele is to receive the first IFA Lifetime Achievement Award, whilst former England captain David Beckham will receive the Global Football Ambassador Award. The recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Football Award and will be announced alongside the nominations in April. The awards ceremony itself will be held at Mermaid Conference & Events Theatre,  Puddle Dock, Blackfriars, London EC4 3DB on 13th September 2009.

The International Football Awards will be broadcast live online to up to 48 million people around the world and through a syndicated broadcast in 22 countries. The event is scheduled to become the major awards ceremony in the football calendar, with the 2010 event lined up for South Africa and the 2011 ceremony to be held in Brazil.

On the second annual International Football awards coming to South Africa during the 2010 World Cup, he added “I think it’s great. It’s not South Africa’s World Cup. It’s Africa’s World Cup and the second International Football Awards will be held there. We are very excited about this. This will change a lot of lives”.

The international nature of the event is just as important as the public’s participation in choosing the winners, according to Jordan Kensington, CEO of the International Football Awards:

“Football excites and engages people like no other sport, and that’s why we want to give dedicated football fans around the world the chance to nominate for the 15 categories and then vote online to decide who wins. It’s important that the fans make the decisions rather than having every award decided by judging panels in darkened rooms.”

In  the hope of promoting young up and coming talent, the International Football Awards will each year will launch an international competition to find the next Under 18 football superstar. The winner will receive two VIP tickets to the awards show, five star hotel  accommodation and the chance to meet some of the world’s leading players. Full details will be on the IFA web site.

Online nominations have now been made!