The announcement was made at the Teatro Albéniz in the Spanish capital alongside Laureus Academy members and former footballers Raúl González and Alessandro Del Piero.

Many of the world's leading sports personalities, past and present, will be in Madrid in April to honour the best athletes and teams of 2023. The ceremony will take place at the Palacio de Cibeles, one of the most iconic buildings in the centre of Madrid.

This is the 25th edition of the Laureus World Sports Awards and Madrid will have the honour of receiving the Laureus Torch from Paris, the city that hosted the Laureus World Sports Awards last year. Winners at that ceremony included Lionel Messi, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and the brilliant young Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz. 

On the team front, the Argentina national team, winners of the World Cup in Qatar, was awarded the 2023 World Team of the Year award. The nominees for the twenty-fifth edition will be announced on 26 February in seven categories following a vote by journalists from the world's leading media.

The winners of the Laureus World Sports Awards are selected by the ultimate sports jury: the 69 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, living sports legends who honour the greatest athletes of today.

Although this is the first time the Laureus World Sports Awards have been held in Madrid, it is not the first time for Spain, as Barcelona (2006 and 2007) and Seville (2021 and 2022) have previously hosted the event.

The Laureus World Sports Awards Show will also feature the Laureus Sport for Good Award, which recognises an individual or organisation that has made a significant contribution to transforming the lives of children and young people through sport.

Former Real Madrid striker and Laureus World Sports Academy member Raúl González said: "Since becoming a member of the Academy in 2016, it has been an honour and an inspiration to be part of Laureus' work around the world. The hardest part is voting for these wonderful awards, but our 2024 winners couldn't ask for a more beautiful and welcoming city to celebrate a memorable year of sport".

José Luis Martínez-Almeida, Mayor of Madrid, said: "The Laureus Awards are a unique opportunity for the city of Madrid, because Madrid is one of the world's great sporting capitals, both from an amateur point of view and in terms of professional sport and the hosting of major world events. But equally important are the values represented by the Laureus Foundation: values of excellence, self-improvement, effort and sacrifice with which a city like Madrid identifies," concluded the Mayor of Madrid.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso, President of the Community of Madrid, said: "Laureus is a very important event, a sporting event that all governments and countries welcome with great enthusiasm because it brings the magic of sport, competition and spectacle. It is also a very special invitation for children and young people and all those who love sport.

Sean Fitzpatrick, President of the Laureus World Sports Academy, said: "It is incredible to think that this will be the 25th Laureus World Sports Awards. Since I stood alongside our founding patron Nelson Mandela and my fellow founding Academy members in 2000, this event has become the greatest celebration of sport in the world. The Laureus stage has welcomed the greatest athletes of the 21st century and it has consistently reinforced our message - that sport has the power to change the world. We are thrilled to be celebrating our 25th Awards in the beautiful, historic and truly global sporting city of Madrid."

Since its inception, Laureus has helped improve the lives of more than six and a half million children and young people. It now supports more than 300 sports-based community programmes around the world. In doing so, it fulfils the visionary words of its founder, South African Nelson Mandela, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993: "Sport has the power to change the world.