BREAKING: Lionel Messi Elected Athlete of the Year

Argentinian World Cup winner Lionel Messi has been named the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) Athlete of the Year 2022.

Newsbreak.ng reports that this result emerged from a poll by the AIPS, where a panel of 420 journalists from 113 countries voted for the Champion of 2022.

By establishing himself as one of the most prominent champions of all time in football and all sports, Messi scooped first place in the 2022 edition of the AIPS honour with a total amount of 962 points collected. Second place has been reached by Swedish Pole Vaulter Armand Duplantis with 373 points, with French Footballer Kylian Mbappé in third place with 366 points.

Messi, 35, lived a history-making 2022 season. By lifting the FIFA World Cup trophy after a remarkable campaign in Qatar, crowned in the end with an unforgettable final won against France on December 18, 2022, at Lusail Stadium (4-2 the final score after penalties), he established himself once and for all as one of the most prominent football player and athletes in the history of sports in general.

At the 2022 World Cup, Messi joined a handful of footballers who played in five different editions of the competition. He netted six goals across four previous editions of the tournament, adding another seven marks in 2022 featuring the second-best striker (in terms of goals scored) only after French star, Mbappè.

With Argentina, he also won the COMEMBOL-UEFA Cup of Nation (the so-called “Finalissima”) against Italy on June 1, 2022, at Wembley Stadium in London, England (3-0 final score), an international trophy established for the first time in 1985 in which feature the Copa America winner from South America against the UEFA EURO winner from Europe.

With Paris Saint Germain (PSG), he added two titles to his collection, the 2021-2022 edition of the Ligue 1 and the 2022 edition of the Trophée of Champions.

Individually speaking, he won the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball and the FIFA World Cup Silver Boot.

AIPS Best Male Athlete of 2022 (votes and percentages):

1. MESSI LIONEL (Football, Argentina) – 962 votes (25,45%)
2. DUPLANTIS ARMAND (Athletics, Sweden) – 373 votes (9,87%)
3. MBAPPE’ KYLIAN (Football, France) – 366 votes (9,68%)
4. BENZEMA KARIM (Football, France) – 298 votes (7,88%)
5. MILÁK KRISTÓF (Swimming, Hungary) – 189 votes (5,00%)
6. VERSTAPPEN MAX (Formula 1, The Netherlands) – 189 votes (5,00%)
7. KIPCHOGE ELIUD (Athletics, Kenya) – 155 votes (4,10%)
8. KOPASZ BÁLINT (Canoeing, Hungary) – 135 votes (3,57%)
9. FEDERER ROGER (Tennis, Switzerland) – 124 votes (3,28%)
10. NADAL RAFAEL (Tennis, Spain) – 118 votes (3,12%)
11. POPOVICI DAVID (Swimming, Romania) – 113 votes (2,99%)
12. THINGNES BOE JOHANNES (Biathlon, Norway) – 84 votes (2,22%)
13. ANTETOKOUNMPO GIANNIS (Basketball, Greece) – 77 votes (2,04%)
14. AMRABAT SOFYAN (Football, Morocco) – 76 votes (2,01%)
15. PALTRINIERI GREGORIO (Swimming, Italy) – 75 votes (1,98%)
16. MANÉ SADIO (Football, Senegal) – 72 votes (1,90%)
17. DOS SANTOS ALISON (Athletics, Brazil) – 61 votes (1,61%)
18. JACOBS MARCELL (Athletics, Italy)- 59 votes (1,56%)
19. TAMBERI GIANMARCO (Athletics, Italy) – 55 votes (1,46%)
20. LEWANDOWSKI ROBERT (Football, Poland) – 50 votes (1,32%)
21. INGEBRIGTSEN JAKOB (Athletics, Norway) – 46 votes (1,22%)
22. PEREZ SERGIO (Formula 1, Mexico) – 26 votes (0,69%)
23. YIMING SU (Snowboarding, China) – 25 votes (0,66%)
24. VON ECKERMANN HENRIK (Horse Riding, Sweden) – 22 votes (0,58%)
25. LYLES NOAH (Track and Field, USA) – 16 votes (0,42%)
26. GUANGPU QI (Aerial Skiing, China) – 11 votes (0,29%)
27. DAJING WU (Short Track Speed Skating, China) – 3 votes (0,08%)

AIPS members from the following nations participated in the Best of 2022 poll (countries are listed in alphabetical order):

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, The Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, UK, Ukraine, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela, Yemen.