What is the Socrates Award at the Ballon d’Or? Vinicius Junior wins humanitarian award

Real Madrid tars Vinicius Junior has won the Socrates Award at the 2023 Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris.

The 23-year-old received the honour for his humanitarian work. Vinicius’ foundation, Vini.Jr Institute, funds an educational app for underprivileged children in Brazil.

The app provides free access to educational resources for children. This year his personal contribution to the foundation is set to exceed $1 million and will rise to $2.5 million in 2024.

On stage at the awards ceremony in Paris, co-host Didier Drogba added that Vinicius’ public anti-racist stance was also a factor in the decision to give him the Socrates Award. The Brazilian has frequently been the subject of racist abuse in Spain and has used his platform to draw attention to the problem.

Who was Socrates?

The award is named after an iconic Brazilian soccer player called Socrates, who captained the national team in the 1982 and was named South American Footballer of the Year the following year.

Aside from his generational on-field talents, Socrates was also noted for his political awareness and social conScience. During his playing career he was a vocal opponent of the ruling Military government and was a key voice in the national push for democracy. He even wore shirts emblazoned with the word ‘Democracia’ during matches.

Who else has won the Socrates Award?

The Brazilian legend died in 2011 and he was posthumously honoured with this award in his name. The first Socrates Awards was presented last year, in 2022, at the Ballon d’Or event.

The inaugural winner of the award was Senegalese forward Sadio Mané, who had recently left Liverpool to join Bayern Munich. Mané is involved in a number of humanitarian enterprises in his native Senegal.

He continues to donate a significant portion of his wages to help people in Bambali, the town where he grew up. Mané funds a school and a hospital and countless other Healthcare and Educational programmes.

Vinicius Jr joins Sadio Mané on the short but illustrious list of Socrates Award winners.