Luis Enrique won two awards at the Ballon d'Or ceremony. He won the Johan Cruyff award for Best Coach, after taking Paris Saint-Germain to their first Champions League title, but the most meaningful award was the Sócrates Award, the humanitarian award that France Football gives in collaboration with Peace and Sport. This year, they recognised the work of the Xana Foundation, founded by Luis Enrique himself, bearing the name of his late daughter, Xana, who died aged 9 in 2019.
The Xana Foundation works to provide assistance (emotionally, physically, financially, and organisationally) to children and young people with oncological diseases and other serious illnesses, as well as to their families.
Sira Martínez, Luis Enrique's daughter, picked the award as his father was absent, in the Marseille - PSG match that was being played at the same time, and was moved. "In my family, we believe Xana is with us spiritually. We also believe she came to this world for a short period of time because she had bigger things to do than live here, so that's why we created the foundation in her honour. I'm convinced she's very proud of us and how we help people live through difficult situations."
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