The Annual Gazzetta Sports Awards 2021 will be handing out the Fan of the Year Award this year, chosen by football fans from across the world in a poll now live on Socios.com and open to all SSU Fan Token holders.
Winners from nine main categories, created by La Gazzetta dello Sport, will be revealed at the event, which will take place in Milan, and is returning for the first time in two years after last year’s event was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Not only will the Fan of the Year be rewarded but also one lucky $SSU Token holder who voted too.
Come and meet the three finalists for the Fan of the Year Award right here:
Massimo
At a glance in the legendary André Petrieux velodrome in Roubaix, a flag of the Filippo Ganna fan club proudly hangs. Massimo Pellegrini brought it together with Marco Chiodoni and Corrado Bettinelli, three of the Piedmontese cycling champion’s most passionate fans. The flag was left in the bar just before the entrance to the open structure that houses the grand finale of the Northern Hell, which Ganna won in 2016 as the Under 23 and which in 2022 he will compete once again. Ganna’s fans are ready to follow him everywhere with his fan club, TopGanna, now more than 400 members strong. A second flag, as a good omen has been hung there too by Florido Barale, the first fan club president hoping that this will give Ganna that added boost of luck to conquer even more.
Giovanni
A passion for football greater than the fear of Covid, Giovanni Deluca and his 17-year-old daughter Giulia were among the 600 Azzurri fans who followed the national team in the triumphal final of the European Championship at Wembley. Upon returning to Italy they tested positive. “We were in a bubble in total safety – says the 55-year-old lawyer from Barletta -. I have no idea how we got infected. Upon returning to Italy we had to stay in quarantine for about a month. It was a very strong and intense experience. But the joy we felt in seeing the Azzurri lift the cup wiped out any bad memories “. Giovanni fell in love with the national team in the 1982 World Cup and passed on this passion to his daughter. “I took her to see the first match of the national team when she was only eight years old – he says -, Italy-Spain of Euro 2012 in Gdansk. We are Juventus fans and season ticket holders, but you immediately felt the different atmosphere that reigns in the matches of the national team compared to those of the club. There is a wonderful atmosphere of celebration and brotherhood, even with opponents. We also went to Bordeaux for the quarter-final of Euro 2016 Italy-Germany, lost on penalties. It was the first and only time I saw my daughter cry. She had bought a special bottle of Coca-Cola and at the end of the game she told me: ‘Dad, I will only open it in 2020 when we win the European …’ “.
Agnese
Take a calendar, remove all MotoGP Grand Prix weekends, count what’s left and you will have the number of times that Agnese and her husband Davide are at the Ranch in a year. Because every Saturday outside the GP, where Valentino races, trains and has fun with friends from the Academy, there you will find them, rain or shine, whatever the weather. Agnese inherited her passion for motorcycles from her father, Giovanni Castellucci known as Luciano, historical sponsor of Graziano Rossi, Vale’s father, with the Masport brand. When Agnese got married, her passion for Valentino passed on to her husband. Since then Agnese has had three Valentino-themed tattoos and every 2- 3 weeks they drive from Forlì to Tavullia, for a pizza or a stroll tracing the footsteps of their hero. Valentino has come to know them and often carries a small gift for them to thank them for 26 years of constant support.
The vote is open and will close at 6am CET tomorrow morning so make sure you get voting and be in with the chance to get an exclusive invite to the gala event celebrating the very best athletes from the Italian sports scene of the calendar year. You are also in with a chance to win some fantastic signed merchandise.
