# FIFA Order of Merit

The FIFA Order of Merit is the highest honour awarded by FIFA. The award is presented at the annual FIFA congress. It is normally awarded to people who are considered to have made a significant contribution to association football.
At FIFA's centennial congress they made one award for every decade of their existence. These awards were also handed out to fans, organisations, clubs, and one to African Football. These were referred to as the FIFA Centennial Order of Merit.
The winner does not have to be directly involved with football to receive it. One such notable non-footballing personality was Nelson Mandela who won it for bringing South Africa back to international football.

## Recipients
### Personalities directly involved in football
#### Associations

| Recipient | Year | Nationality | Notes |
| Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol | 2004 | Uruguay | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| African Football | 2004 | | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| International Football Association Board | 2004 | | Centennial Award in 2004 |

#### Clubs

| Recipient | Year | Nationality | Notes |
| Sheffield F.C. | 2004 | England | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| Real Madrid C.F. | 2004 | Spain | Centennial Award in 2004 |

#### Players

| Recipient | Year | Nationality | Notes |
| Franz Beckenbauer* | 1984, 2004 | Germany | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| Bobby Charlton | 1984 | England | |
| Pelé | 1984, 2004 | Brazil | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| Dino Zoff | 1984 | Italy | |
| Lev Yashin | 1988 | Soviet Union | |
| Antonio Carbajal | 1992 | Mexico | |
| Stanley Matthews | 1992 | England | |
| Francisco Varallo | 1994 | Argentina | |
| Alfredo Di Stefano | 1994 | Argentina | |
| Fritz Walter | 1994 | Germany | |
| Ferenc Puskás | 1994 | Hungary | |
| Eusébio | 1994 | Portugal | |
| Just Fontaine | 1994 | France | |
| Gunn Nyborg | 1994 | Norway | |
| Obdulio Varela | 1994 | Uruguay | |
| Zico | 1996 | Brazil | |
| Bobby Moore | 1996 | England | |
| Salif Keita | 1996 | Mali | |
| Michelle Akers | 1998 | United States | |
| Larbi Benbarek | 1998 | Morocco | |
| Gilmar | 1998 | Brazil | |
| Gerd Müller | 1998 | Germany | |
| Ivan Toplak | 2000 | Slovenia | |
| David Kipiani | 2002 | Georgia | |
| Pradip Kumar Banerjee | 2004 | India | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| Muhammad Umer | 2004 | Pakistan | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| Hafizuddin Ahmed | 2004 | Bangladesh | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| Lee Ramoon | 2004 | Cayman Islands | |
| Paolo Maldini | 2008 | Italy | |
| Johan Cruijff* | 2010 | Netherlands | |
| Steve Sumner | 2010 | New Zealand | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| Alcides Ghiggia | 2010 | Uruguay | |

#### Managers

| Recipient | Year | Nationality | Notes |
| Franz Beckenbauer* | 1984, 2004 | Germany | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| Helmut Schön | 1984 | Germany | |
| Mário Zagallo | 1992 | Brazil | |
| Karl Heinz Weigang | 1998 | Germany | |
| Miljan Miljanić* | 2002 | Serbia | |
| Valeriy Lobanovskyi | 2003 | Ukraine | |
| Sein Hlaing | 2004 | Myanmar | |
| Bobby Robson | 2009 | England | Emerald Award |
| Kazimierz Górski* | 2006 | Poland | |
| Nodar Akhalkatsi | 2008 | Georgia | |
| Johan Cruijff* | 2010 | Netherlands | |
| Winston Chung Fah | 2012 | Jamaica | |
| Óscar Tabárez | 2012 | Uruguay | |

#### Referees

| Recipient | Year | Nationality |
| Stanley Rous* | 1984 | England |
| Nikolay Latyshev | 1987 | Soviet Union |
| Thomas Wharton | 1992 | Scotland |
| Farouk Bouzo | 1996 | Syria |
| Javier Arriaga Muñiz | 1996 | Mexico |
| Fernando G. Álvarez | 2005 | Philippines |
| Hari Raj Naicker | 2012 | Fiji |

### Administrators

| Recipient | Year | Nationality | Notes |
| Stanley Rous* | 1984 | England | |
| Mihajlo Andrejević | 1984 | Yugoslavia | |
| Paulo Machado de Carvalho | 1987 | Brazil | |
| Ferdinand Hidalgo | 1987 | Ecuador | |
| Teófilo Salinas Fuller | 1987 | Peru | |
| Marat Gramov | 1987 | Soviet Union | |
| João Lyra Filho | 1988 | Brazil | |
| Pedro Escartín | 1988 | Spain | |
| Yidnekatchew Tessema | 1988 | Ethiopia | |
| K. Ziauddin | 1992 | India | |
| Shizuo Fujita | 1992 | Japan | |
| Juan José Russo | 1992 | Argentina | |
| Abdel Aziz Mostafa | 1992 | Egypt | |
| Arthur George | 1994 | Australia | |
| Chen Chengda | 1994 | China | |
| Abdel Halim Muhammad | 1994 | Sudan | |
| Gene Edwards | 1994 | United States | |
| Vitali Smirnov | 1995 | Russia | |
| Maurice Burlaz | 1996 | France | |
| Henry Fok | 1998 | Hong Kong | |
| Julio Grondona | 1998 | Argentina | |
| Vyacheslav Koloskov | 1998 | Russia | |
| Bert Millichip | 1998 | England | |
| Guillermo Cañedo de la Bárcena | 1998 | Mexico | |
| Abilio d'Almeida | 2000 | Brazil | |
| Josep Lluís Núñez | 2000 | Spain | |
| Nabon Noor | 2000 | Indonesia | |
| Azrikam Miltchan | 2000 | Israel | |
| Horace Burrell | 2000 | Jamaica | |
| Faisal bin Fahd | 2000 | Saudi Arabia | |
| Etubom Oyo Orok Oyo | 2000 | Nigeria | |
| Nikita Simonyan | 2000 | Russia | |
| Juan Antonio Samaranch | 2001 | Spain | |
| José Ermírio de Moraes Filho | 2002 | Brazil | |
| Jim Fleming | 2002 | Canada | |
| Mohamed Khalil El Deeb | 2002 | Egypt | |
| Santiago Bernabéu | 2002 | Spain | |
| Miljan Miljanić | 2002 | Serbia | |
| Hans Ernst Bangerter | 2002 | Switzerland | |
| René Hüssy | 2002 | Switzerland | |
| Miljan Miljanić* | 2002 | Serbia | |
| Johnny Warren | 2004 | Australia | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| João Havelange | 2004 | Brazil | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| Jules Rimet | 2004 | France | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah | 2004 | Kuwait | |
| Jan Peeters | 2006 | Belgium | |
| Issa Hayatou | 2006 | Cameroon | |
| Egidius Braun | 2006 | Germany | |
| Oscar Thamar Torres | 2006 | Guatemala | |
| Saburō Kawabuchi | 2006 | Japan | |
| Hamzah Abu Samah | 2006 | Malaysia | |
| Guyedre Wamedjo | 2006 | New Caledonia | |
| Per Ravn Omdal | 2006 | Norway | |
| Kazimierz Górski* | 2006 | Poland | |
| Aleksei Paramonov | 2006 | Russia | |
| Alan Rothenberg | 2006 | United States | |
| Nicolás Abumohor | 2008 | Chile | |
| Zhang Jilong | 2008 | China | |
| Isaac David Sasso Sasso | 2008 | Costa Rica | |
| Nodar Akhalkatsi | 2008 | Georgia | |
| Helen Leuthardt-Petermann | 2008 | Switzerland | |
| Leszek Rylski | 2009 | Poland | Ruby Award* |
| Lisle Austin | 2010 | Barbados | |
| Holger Obermann | 2010 | Germany | |
| Junji Ogura | 2010 | Japan | |
| Molefi Oliphant | 2010 | South Africa | |
| Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder | 2012 | Germany | |
| György Szepesi | 2012 | Hungary | |
| Ahmad Shah of Pahang | 2012 | Malaysia | |
| Godfried Foli Ekue | 2012 | Togo | |
*in diamond, ruby or emerald

### Other individuals

| Recipient | Year | Nationality |
| Roberto Marinho | 1987 | Brazil |
| Everwijn van Steeden | 1987 | England |
| Emilio Azcárraga Milmo | 1987 | Mexico |
| Diego Lucero | 1987 | Uruguay |
| Pedro Ramírez Vázquez | 1988 | Mexico |
| Karl-Heinz Heimann | 1992 | Germany |
| Walter Lutz | 1992 | Switzerland |
| Henry Kissinger | 1996 | United States |
| Douglas Ivester | 1996 | United States |
| Udo Jürgens | 1996 | Germany |
| Fernand Sastre | 1998 | France |
| Nelson Mandela | 1998 | South Africa |
| Erwin Himmelseher | 2000 | Germany |
| Kofi Annan | 2002 | Ghana |
| Thaksin Shinawatra | 2004 | Thailand |
| Robert Louis-Dreyfus | 2006 | France |
| Otto Schily | 2006 | Germany |
| Rudi Michel | 2006 | Germany |
| Mohammed Yusuf | 2008 | Fiji |
| Alpha Oumar Konaré | 2008 | Mali |
| Thabo Mbeki | 2010 | South Africa |

### Other collectives

| Recipient | Year | Nationality | Notes |
| Television | 2004 | | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| The City of Sheffield | 2004 | England | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| Fans of Japan | 2004 | Japan | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| Fans of Korea | 2004 | South Korea | Centennial Award in 2004 |

### Commercial brands

| Recipient | Year | Nationality | Notes |
| Adidas | 2004 | Germany | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| Coca-Cola | 2004 | United States | Centennial Award in 2004 |
| Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive | 2004 | France | Centennial Award in 2004 |