At the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony in London, the Socrates Award went to Bukayo Saka, with the Arsenal forward recognised for his charitable and humanitarian efforts. According to Arseblog News, the recognition centres on his involvement with the BigShoe initiative, which was set up to pay for operations for children worldwide.

Biringiro's story takes centre stage

In the passage published in full by the Evening Standard, the teenager described his sight beginning to fail at the age of 12 in a village with no electricity, and said the eye care he received meant "I can read the blackboard even from the back of the classroom." He added: "I can enjoy being a child again," and said he hopes to become an English teacher.

Saka then explained why the work matters to him. "We know how it feels to be a child and having a ball at your feet and how much joy you have," he said. "Every time I have the opportunity to help another kid have that feeling again, that's important to me." He called receiving the award an honour and offered thanks "on behalf of all the children we've been able to help".

The reach of the charity work

BigShoe began in Germany before the 2006 World Cup and has widened its scope considerably over the two decades since. Arseblog News reports that Saka's backing has helped fund surgery for children in Africa and emergency accommodation and shelter for families left homeless by earthquakes in Turkey and Morocco. In Rwanda, his support has paid for medical check-ups for over 580 children and insurance cover for another 1,000 people.

The Evening Standard reports that Saka and his family have worked with a number of charities, including long-running projects with BigShoe that supply medical care and humanitarian assistance to children and families in need, both in London and further afield. Arseblog News reports that Mesut Ozil and Oleksandr Zinchenko, both former Arsenal players, have likewise had close ties to the organisation.

Saka becomes the fifth person to receive the Socrates Award, named for the Brazilian footballer and first presented in 2022 to a player for humanitarian and charitable efforts. The first award went to Sadio Mane, and since then Vinicius Junior, Jennifer Hermoso and Luis Enrique have been honoured.

A night of near-misses elsewhere

Arsenal were represented across several categories at the gala but came away without further silverware. Mikel Arteta was beaten to the Men's Coach of the Year prize by his fellow Spaniard Luis de la Fuente, while David Raya finished second to Unai Simon in the goalkeeping category. Paris Saint-Germain were named Men's Club of the Year.

In the men's Ballon d'Or, Declan Rice placed 15th, Gabriel 21st and William Saliba 29th, with the main award going to Harry Kane. Alessia Russo made the top ten of the Women’s's Ballon d'Or and Mariona Caldentey finished 13th. Football.London reported that Saka posted a statement after the ceremony.

Photo: Bryan Berlin via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized.