South African veteran sports journalist honoured for FIFA World Cup achievement

FIFA has honoured South African Mark Gleeson and Nigerian Ibikunle Solaja as African sports journalists who have covered the most World Cup editions.

FIFA honoured Mark Gleeson and Ibikunle Solaja on Tuesday in Qatar on the sidelines of the ongoing World Cup.

SuperSport TV commentator and journalist Mark Gleeson and Ibikunle Solaja from a media outlet called Sports Village Square have each covered nine World Cup editions.

Mark Gleeson, whose voice is synonymous with live TV commentaries in South Africa and beyond, works for Content Company.

The towering man is also recognized as African football encyclopedia owing to the rich records he keeps for the continent’s football.

Gleeson and his Nigerian counterpart are ranked number 56 on the list of reporters who have covered the most World Cup finals since 1958.

Argentine freelancer Enrique Macaya holds the  record for the most 17 World Cup coverages having done so 17 times since 1958.

FIFA says it organized the ceremony to honour sports journalists who have covered at least eight World Cup editions.

FIFA says the aim to recognise the role that the media plays in making football the most popular sport.

GIANNI INFANTINO’S MESSAGE TO SPORTS JOURNALISTS

FIFA President Gianni Infantino sent a pre-recorded video message to the award-winning journalists.

“I am, as FIFA President, eternally grateful to all of you. I would like to compliment and congratulate you,” he said.

 “It’s a very special day because you recognise, we recognise, we praise, we reward some of you who have a very, very special track record.”

The ceremony was held jointly with world governing body for sports journalists to salute the 70-odd journalists.

Brazilian football legend Ronaldo gave each of the reporters a mini-replica of the FIFA World Cup trophy.

Full list of recognized journalists:

  1 – Enrique Macaya Márquez, (Argentina) – Freelancer – 17

  2 – Hartmut Scherzer, (Germany) – Freelancer – 16

  3 – Jorge Da Silveira, (Uruguay) – Radio Cristal – 15

  4 – Jacques Vendroux, (France) – Europe 1 – 14

  5 – Jesús Vélez Vanegas, (Honduras) – La Tribuna – 14

  6 – Keir Radnedge, (United Kingdom) – World Sports Service – 14

  7 – Osumi Yoshiyuki, (Japan) – Freelancer -13

  8 – Alfonso Arévalo Aranibar, (Bolivia) – Freelancer – 12

  9 – Pedro Ernesto Gravida, (Brazil) – Radio Gaucha, Grupo RBS – 12

10 – Galvao Bueno, (Brazil) – TV Globo – 12

11 – Carlos Antonio Velez Naranjo, (Colombia) – RCN Radio y TV – 12

12 – Kazuyoshi Shimizu, (Japan) – Photo Kishimoto sports agency – 12

13 – Enrique Bermúdez de la Serna, (Mexico) – TELEVISA – 12

14 – Jaap de Groot, (Netherlands) – Freelancer – 12

15 – Dariusz Szpakowski, (Poland) – POLISH TELEVISION – 12

16 – Sergio Gorzyczanski, (Uruguay) – VTV – 12

17 – Alberto Kesman, (Uruguay) – Canal 12 Teledoce (UY) – 12

18 – Jorge Barraza, (Argentina) – Win Sports Televisión – 11

19 – Sergio Renato Dovio, (Argentina) – Freelancer – 11

20 – José Antonio Fernando Nürnberg, (Bolivia) – Facetas Deportivas – 11

21 – Osires Batista Nadal, (Brazil) – Rádio Lagoa Dourada FM.105.9 – 11

22 – Juca Kfouri, (Brazil) – UOL – 11

23 – Liu Zhankun, (China) – China News Service – 11

24 – Henry Jiménez Astudillo, (Colombia) – RCN Radio en Bogotá – 11

25 – Henri Szwarc, (France) – STARFACE/POLARIS IMAGES – 11

26 – Gregor Derichs, (Germany) – German Press Agency – 11

27 – Norio Rokukawa, (Japan) – Office La Strada Tokyo Japan – 11

28 – Shigeki Sugiyama, (Japan) – Freelancer – 11

29 – Kyoji Imai, (Japan) – Freelancer – 11

30 – Horacio Pagani (Argentina) – Clarín, Canal 9 – 10

31 – Sergio Levinsky, (Argentina) – Diario Jornada de Mendoza – 10

32 – Daniel Arcucci, (Argentina) – La Nación / ESPN – 10

33 – Éder Luiz, (Brazil) – Radio Transamerica Brasil – 10

34 – Eraldo Leite, (Brazil) – Radio Globo – 10

35 – Oscar Munévar Forero, (Colombia) – Caracol Radio – 10

36 – César Augusto Londoño, (Colombia) – Caracol Radio Colombia – 10

37 – Jose Luis Alarcón Rojas, (Colombia) – Diario el Frente – 10

38 – Pier Giorgio Giavelli, (Italy) – Best Photo Agency – 10

39 – Emanuela Audisio, (Italy) – La Repubblica – 10

40 – Shinji Akagi, (Japan) – Far East Press, Tokyo – 10

41 – Etsuo Hara, (Japan) – World Football – 10

42 – Youssef Berjaoui, (Lebanon) – Assafir (online) – 10

43 – Fernando Schwartz, (México) – FOX SPORTS – 10

44 – Carlos Muñoz, (Uruguay) – ESPN – 10

45 – Fernando González Roth, (Spain) / (Uruguay) – Freelancer – 9

46 – Juan José Panno, (Argentina) – Diario Página 12 – 9

47 – Jorge Rodriges, (Brazil) – Conmebol – 9

48 – João Estevan Ramalho Neto, (Brazil) – Globo TV – 9

49 – Luis Roberlo de Mucio, (Brazil) – TV Glovo – 9

50 – Wellington Campos, (Brazil) – Radio Itatiaia – 9

51 – Rumen Paytashev, (Bulgaria) – FREELANCER – 9

52 – Paolo Nucci, (Italy) – Foto Nucci Photo Agency – 9

53 – Donatella Scarnati, (Italy) – Rai – 9

54 – Claudio Villa, (Italy) – Getty – 9

55 – Kazuhito Yamada, (Japan) – Kaz Photography – 9

56 – Ibikunle O. Solaja, (Nigeria) – Sports Village Square – 9

57 – Mark Gleeson, (South Africa) – Content Company – 9

58 – José Antonio Pascual Álvaro, (Spain) – EFE Deportes – 9

59 – Mitch Phillips, (United Kingdom) – Reuters – 9

60 – Shaun Botterill, (United Kingdom) – Getty – 9

61 – Javier De León, (Uruguay) – El Nuevo Rionegrense (prensa) – 9

62 – Antonio Carrasco Candelas, (Venezuela) / (Spain) – Ranking 100.7 Fm – 9

63 – Ezequiel Fernández Moores, (Argentina) – Freelancer – 9

64 – Daniel Wainstein, (Argentina) – MARCA – 8

65 – Ricardo Capriotti, (Brazil) – Freelancer – 8

66 – Leandro Cordero, (Costa Rica) – RADIO COLUMBIA CR – 8

67 – Vincent Amalvy, (France) – AFP – 8

68 – Günter Klein, (Germany) – Merkur.de – 8

69 – Karlheinz Wild, (Germany) – Kicker – 8

70 – Tsutomu Kishimoto, (Japan) – PICSPORT – 8

71 – Kumi Kinohara, (Japan) – Freelancer – 8

72 – Yukinori Takechi, (Japan) – Nikkei Inc. – 8

73 – Satoshi Ushio, (Japan) – The Asahi Shimbun – 8

74 – Bozena Szmel-Gowarzewska, (Poland) – FUJI FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA – 8

75 – Joaquín Maroto, (Spain) – Diario As – 8

76 – Orfeo Suarez, (Spain) – Diario EL MUNDO – 8

77 – Cristina Cubero, (Spain) – El Mundo Deportivo – 8

78 – Juan C. Scelza, (Uruguay) – Radio Oriental – 8

79 – Javier M. Goñi, (Uruguay) – Radio Oriental – 8

80 – Grant Wahl, (USA) – Freelancer – 8

81 – Daniel Chapela Iglesias, (Venezuela) – FDP Radio – 8

AUSTRALIA 1 (Leckie 60) DENMARK 0

TUNISIA 1 1 (Khazri 58) FRANCE 0

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