- Argentine World Cup winner joins the Laureus
movement ahead of attending 25th anniversary Laureus World
Sports Awards - AS Roma star visits
Sport for Good programme in Rome to kick off his role as a
Laureus Ambassador - Spanish tennis
great Rafael Nadal confirmed to attend Monday’s Awards
Ceremony - Ski legend Lindsey Vonn to
host the “athletes’ awards” in
Madrid
MADRID, April 18, 2025
– Paulo Dybala, the Argentine World Cup winner,
has today been announced as a Laureus Ambassador. The
31-year-old initiated his new role with a visit to a Laureus
Sport for Good programme in Rome and will be in attendance
at the 25th anniversary Laureus World Sports Awards in
Madrid on Monday.
Dybala won five Serie A titles with
Juventus and the World Cup with Argentina in 2022. The
Argentine star – who now plays for AS Roma – visited
Calcio Insieme on Wednesday, a Rome-based project supported
by the AS Roma Foundation, which uses football to help
children with intellectual disabilities. More than 30
children and young adults were there to meet the new Laureus
Ambassador.
Paulo Dybala said:
“It is a huge honour to join Laureus as an Ambassador.
I have been inspired to learn about the incredible work they
do, and to see ‘sport for good’ in action during my
visit to Calcio Insieme was a great experience. The Laureus
mission, to use sport as a vehicle for societal change, is
inspiring and I am looking forward to attending a special
25th anniversary Laureus Awards in Madrid in the company of
many sporting legends.”
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Joining Dybala at this
year’s Awards show will be a host of champions including
Spanish sporting hero Rafael Nadal. Nadal
brought his illustrious career to a close in 2024 after 22
Grand Slams (including 14 French Open titles) two Olympic
gold medals and 81 consecutive matches unbeaten on clay.
Nadal has also completed a ‘Laureus Slam’ as the only
athlete to win Breakthrough of the Year, Comeback
of the Year, Sportsman of the Year and the
Laureus Sport for Good Award.
This year’s
event will be hosted by ski legend Lindsey
Vonn, who won the Laureus World Sportswoman of
the Year Award in 2011 and picked up the Laureus
Spirit of Sport Award eight years later. Vonn – who
hosted the virtual Awards in Seville in 2022 – launched a
daring comeback in December at the age of 40 and secured her
first World Cup podium finish in Idaho last
month.
Vonn, a Member of the Laureus
World Sports Academy, the 69 sporting legends whose votes
determine the winners of the Awards said:
“It is a huge thrill to host the Awards once
again. I enjoyed the experience virtually three years ago in
Seville, but this time it will be even more special with
everyone actually in attendance. I’ve been on both sides
of the coin, thankfully I know what it’s like to win a
Laureus award, and I also know what it’s like to vote.
Having this perspective makes me appreciate how special
Laureus is even more. Looking forward to seeing everyone in
Madrid! Vamos!”
Joining
Nominees, Laureus Ambassadors and Academy Members will be
sports fans from fashion, film and entertainment. Those
attending include:
Athletics: Mondo Duplantis,
Nawal El Moutawakel, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Tegla Loroupe,
Edwin Moses, Letsile Tebogo
Basketball:
Rudy Fernández
Cricket:
Steve Waugh
Cycling: Mark Cavendish,
Chris Hoy
Football: Thiago Alcantara,
Kosovare Asllani, Cafu, Fabio Capello, Fernando Carro, Iker
Casillas, Paulo Dybala, Luis de la Fuente, Luis Figo, Ruud
Gullit, Robin Le Normand, Rafael
Louzán
Gymnastics: Rebeca Andrade,
Simone Biles, Nadia Comăneci, Li
Xiaopeng
Hockey: Luciana
Aymar
Kayaking: Saúl
Craviotto
Motor Racing: Zak Brown,
Emerson Fittipaldi
Para archery: Matt
Stutzman
Para badminton: Qu Zi
Mo
Para fencing: Bebe
Vio
Para swimming: Daniel Dias,
Teresa Perales, Jiang Yuyan
Rowing:
Steve Redgrave
Rugby: Sean
Fitzpatrick (Laureus Academy Chairman), Bryan Habana, Hugo
Porta
Skiing: Lara Gut-Behrami,
Eileen Gu, Maria Hőfl-Riesch, Lindsey
Vonn
Squash: Nicol
David
Surfing: Kelly
Slater
Swimming: Ariarne
Titmus
Tennis: Carlos Alcaraz, Paula
Badosa, Mansour Bahrami, Boris Becker, Belinda Bencic, Novak
Djokovic, Garbiñe Muguruza, Rafael Nadal,
Jasmine Paolini, Aryna Sabalenka, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Donna
Vekić
Windsurfing: Robby
Naish
