SPECIAL AWARDS WINNERS

Jamil Chade , Spaniard José María Lorente



Maria Pia Beltran



Jamil Chade is the AIPS Sport Media Awards Investigative Reporter for 2019. His dedication to research and investigation in the world of sports politics and development led him to uncover the dollars in sixteen gold bars embezzled by the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, among other scandals.

AIPS President Gianni Merlo explained why Jamil was chosen for the award: “He was chosen because I have been following his work for many years. He’s a hard-hitting journalist. And he continues to work to reveal the injustices in sport”. Going up on stage to receive the award presented by Gianni Merlo and Marca’s Editor in Chief Juan Ignacio Gallardo, Chade was ready to share his message to the journalists present.

“There is no doubt: we are under attack. I know dozens of South American and Brazilian journalists fighting against the far right government. A very difficult time in Brazil, too…Many of our colleagues have the voices in silence at the moments. History will not be kind to us if we don’t fight back. I know many of us share a common view, which is actually very simple: we will not run out of ink. We will not run out of ink”.

Josè Maria Lorente, author of the AIPS Historical Book, was recognized for his dedication to the sport journalism profession on February 3, 2020 at the end of the AIPS Sport Media Awards Gala. If you think about the special ‘A Life in Sport’ award, you may imagine action, color, drama and, most of all, passion. And this is what Lorente thinks while remembering his long career: “Do you want a suggestion to the younger generation? I would pay anything to go back and re-do it from the beginning as I did. Being a sport journalist and belonging to this (AIPS) family is what I will cherish forever.”

This is what moved the audience, who paid to tribute to the 93-years-old Spanish gentleman, with a standing ovation. Lorente was brave enough to afford such a hard trip to join his beloved colleagues at the AIPS 83rd Congress in Budapest.

“I think I will end today my career,” Lorente said while receiving the award from AIPS President Gianni Merlo, “and I will always be proud of this recognition.” Also Lorente’s son, who accompanied him to the congress, said a few words of appreciation. “I am 60 years old and I grow up with all the stories about AIPS Congresses, sport journalists and international sport events, my father loves you all and as part of his family we love you too.”