The 2020 Peace and Sport Awards will be given out from 14^th to 18^th December, only this year, all the action will be online.
The Peace and Sport Awards are a much-anticipated annual event in Monaco, but organisers have had to change their format this year due to the ongoing health situation. So, they have decided to hold their ceremonies digitally over four days.
This temporary new format does not mean less excitement for the recipients and those interested, as fans can follow along to see the nominees and winners announced on social media as well as on the organisation’s website.
The five categories for nominees are the April6 Initiative of the Year, the Sport for Development and Peace Program of the Year, the Innovative Action of the Year, the Special Jury Prize, and the Champion for Peace of the Year, and the winners of each category will be revealed on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn from 14^th to 18^th December.
“In these challenging times, sport remains a universal language,” said Joël Bouzou, President and Founder of Peace and Sport. “Its role is vital to promote essential values such as respect, diversity and inclusion. The peace-through-sport community must stay active and connected in order to share best practices contributing to peace, dialogue and social change across the world with innovative ways.”
The jury is made up of South African rugby player Siya Kolisi, who is also Jury President. He will be joined by President of the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation Kerrith Borwn, Advisor of Sport and Development for the Agence Française de Développement Laetitia Habchi, Columbia’s Minister of Sport Ernesto Lucena, CEO of My Coach Cedric Messina, Chairperson of CIGEPS Rosa Rakotozafy, and President of the Hellenic Community of Monaco and Director of Brooks Brothers Monaco Sophia Vaharis-Tsouvelekakis, who draws strong links between her sporting achievements and success as a businesswoman.
“In Greece we have a saying: a healthy mind in a healthy body,” Sophia Vaharis-Tsouvelekakis told Monaco Life. “Sport allows you to measure your strengths and your limitations; to put in place goals that you can surpass; to collaborate with your team – as I did when racing at Les 24h Chamonix sur Glace – and to respect others. It allows you to learn from losing and understand why you lost; to congratulate the winner and be humble when you win. I think all of these apply to sport as well as to business.”
Peace and Sport was founded in 2007 by Modern Pentathlon Olympic Medallist and World Champion Joël Bouzou. It is a Monaco-based independent association that promotes peace by introducing sports programmes to those in the world affected most by poverty, war and instability, the idea being that friendly competition builds bonds and communities.

The Peace and Sport Awards “reward organisations and individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to peace, dialogue and social change in the world through sport.”
The nominees for the April6 Initiative Award are:
• International Judo Federation.
• Kosovo National Olympic Committee.
• Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia.
• Palestine: Sports for Life.
• Secretary of State for Youth and Sport, within the Ministry of Education of Portugal.
The nominees for Sport for Development and Peace Programme of the Year are:
• Football for Change Outreach Project – Indochina Starfish Cambodia (ISF) Cambodia.
• Free football-for-youth-development programs – America SCORES.
• Volleyball4Life program – Dutch Volleyball Federation-Nevobo.
Nominees for Innovative Action of the Year are:
• FLAG21@Home campaign – FLAG21.
• Online SAMBO Cup – International Sambo Federation.
• Sa7ti Friyadti project (Empowerment through sport) – TIBU Maroc
For the Special Jury Prize, the nominees are:
• ERC Cyprus rally 2019 – International Automobile Federation.
• The Olympic Day Workout social media digital campaign – Olympic Channel.
• Together against Covid-19 – Olympique Lyonnais Foundation
The Champion for Peace of the Year is announced at the awards ceremony on the 18^th and all the winners will be celebrated throughout the four days.