Hublot at FIFA Ballon d'Or 2011

KIH's post celebrates Hublot's role as the Official Timekeeper and Watch of the FIFA World Cup, highlighting their presentation of specially engraved watches to the winners of the FIFA Ballon d'Or 2011. This initiative underscores Hublot's deep commitment to elite football and its strategy of associating luxury timepieces with global sporting achievements. The post details the specific models awarded to both male and female winners, showcasing Hublot's fusion of materials and iconic designs.

FIFA BALLON D’OR 2011

A Hublot watch offered to the winners

On Monday 9 January 2012, the Zurich Kongresshaus played host to the stars of the football world at the FIFA BALLON D’OR 2011 awards ceremony. This ceremony honours the best players and coaches of the year, as voted by the international team coaches and captains, as well as specialist journalists.

Among the winners of the evening: Josep "Pep" Guardiola, coach of FC Barcelona, was awarded Best Coach of 2011. Guardiola won five trophies including the Champions League and the Spanish Championship. To mark the event, FIFA presented him with a specially engraved Hublot watch, : a Classic Fusion Zirconium mechanical self-winding model, which – true to the principle of fusion so dear to the Swiss watchmaking brand – allies zirconium, carbon, ceramic and rubber.

FIFA Marketing Director Division Thierry Weil presented Hublot watches to the winners of all categories of the FIFA BALLON D’OR 2011. The female winners received one of the brand's iconic models, an elegant steel Big Bang, with white dial and bezel set with 126 diamonds, and a white rubber strap. A fine gesture in recognition of the "living legends" of world football.

Hublot takes this opportunity to congratulate Sir Alex Ferguson, legendary coach of Manchester United and Hublot ambassador, who was presented with the FIFA Presidential Award.

Hublot - which was the first luxury brand to become involved in football and now Official Timekeeper and Official Watch of the FIFA World Cup™ - is extremely proud to have participated in this prestigious event, thereby reasserting its passion and full commitment to elite level football.

"Big Bang All White Diamonds"

Press Release

... but please read on...

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Moderator's sentimental remark -

Please allow me to add something here.  This is a watch site whose members are from all over the world, literally.  And there is no room for something like "nationalism".  There is no boundary or border in this virtual community and we are all friends and family here.  Having said all that, please bear with me to be a little bit selfish just for a second.

2011 was a really tough year for Japan.  Of course, I am aware that many other countries and people had difficulties and suffered as well.  Nonetheless, it was an extraordinary year for Japan.  20,000 people perished or still missing due to the tremendous power of the nature.  For a while after 3.11, no day passes without many people, including myself, crying over the stories of the brave men, women, who died helping others.  The stories of those who lost everyone of the family and survived alone - I know that losing a family is tough, but losing everyone must be unbearable.  The stories of several hundreds children who lost either or both parents but can't even cry because of the mental trauma and shutdown.  The story of a young just-got-married woman emergency worker who kept shouting to the microphone of the town PA system to make people hurry to the higher ground until the tidal wave swallowed the very building she was doing her job.  The story of nurses who brought the patients who couldn't move without help up to the top floor and sacrificed herself to the tsunami.  The story of a teacher who helped foreign students onto the bus and went back to look for more but never made it back.....  There are as many stories as the number of the people who suffered and those who participated in the recovery operation.

Japan also received tremendous help from all over the world and that is so much appreciated.  Japan will never forget your kindness and friendship.  Operation Tomodachi or Friendship by the US military is one of the most memorable for the people in the affected area.  100,000 Self Defense Force continued to stay and operate in the area for months.  People generally had never appreciated the presence of these military forces in the country, but many have changed their views.  I can't even imagine how it was to conduct search and rescue or search and recovery operations - most bodies were recovered by those people.  Still some three thousands are missing.

Sorry for getting lengthy and possibly gross description, but I thought it was important NOT to forget the disaster/ tragedy, and the help you people generously offered from all over the world.  As far as I remember, Hublot was one of the first watch or any luxurious brands who set up the dedicated donation website and collected and matched the fund.  That may not be widely known, but I think that you should know.

Now the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award for Ms. Homare Sawa - the Captain of Japan's national team who won the Women's World Cup in July.  Homare (ho-ma-ray=means "honor") has been the National Team Player since she was 15 and it was her 5th World Cup at the age of 32.  Yes, 5th!  I am normally not really an avid sports fan or couldn't care less who wins or whether Japan goes to World Cup or Olympic in any sports (Sorry, I don't even know who Messi is ) .  But this "win" was/is different.  Somehow, everybody became an instant soccer fan, including yours truly.   I was just happy that they went to the 2nd stage - "hey, they have done great!"  But winning the World Cup final was totally unexpected.  It certainly uplifted the spirit of Japanese people which was clearly as devastated as the disaster area. 

To illustrate the "difference of the odds", the number of the girls registered in the Women's Soccer Association - 25,000 in the entire Japan vs. 200,000 in CA state alone.  And, Japan's women's national team player makes far less than 1/10 of men's average and almost all of them have day job to make a living - practicing after work.  Hope the situation change for them after this.

Quoted from some news back then - "It just seemed like all of Japan suffered so much," Wambach said. "It seemed like their country needed them to win more than ours." - this may be true.  And another quote I was impressed by - again, quoted from some news - "If any other country was to win this, then I'm really happy and proud for Japan," Carli Lloyd said. "Deep down inside I really thought it was our destiny to win it. But maybe it was Japan's."   This is not easy to say.  Real sportsman or sportswomanship.  Wambach and Sawa were former teammates at Washington Freedom when Ms. Sawa was playing in the US.

FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award was given to Homare Sama, Japan's women's national team captain and MVP of the last World Cup, FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football won by Norio Sasaki, Japan's women's national team coach, and FIFA Fair Play Award was given to Japanese Football Association.  And Hublot watches given to them seemed symbolic to me.

Ms. Homare Sawa - winner of FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award - presented the watch "Big Bang All White Diamonds"

Mr. Norio Sasaki - winner of FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football award - presented the watch ”Classic Fusion Zirconium Ceramic"

For this brief moment, please allow your moderator, who just happened to be a Japanese, to be humbly proud.  Thank you all again for your support, and thank you, Hublot for such a swift move to help Japan and these wonderful gifts to the award winners, two of who also happened to be Japanese for the first time in the history of Ballon D'Or.

Ken

Your (usually) moderate moderator.