The Dubai International Sports Conference and Dubai Globe Soccer Awards, which were held on Sunday evening at the Armani Hotel with the majestic Burj Khalifa forming the backdrop, have pinned down some impressive media and social media numbers, with stats showing a combined potential reach of more than one billion.

A Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiative, this year’s Dubai International Sports Conference was organised under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansoor Bin Mohammed by Dubai Sports Council under the theme “Football at the Top”, and it featured three of modern football’s biggest stars – “El Don” Cristiano Ronaldo, Spain and Real Madrid goalkeeping legend Iker Casillas, and Bayern Munich hitman Robert Lewandowski – together on the same stage for the first time, as well as a keynote address by FIFA President, His Excellency Gianni Infantino.

Broadcast live on video-sharing social networking service TikTok, the exclusive live telecast of the Conference and Awards was watched by more than one million viewers, while 120 videos from the Globe Soccer account and influencers on TikTok under the hashtag #GlobeSoccer had views exceeding 17 million.

On the Instagram platform, the coverage of the Conference and Awards potentially reached more than 580 million followers, while the corresponding numbers for Twitter was 168.8 million, and 295.5 million on Facebook.

Ronaldo, who won the Player of the Century (2001-2020) Award, shared photographs from the Conference and Awards on his officials Instagram account, which has more than 249 million followers, as well as on his officials Twitter account, where he has 90.1 million followers. He also posted the same photographs on his official Facebook account, where he has almost 146 million followers.

The Conference and Awards also received wide coverage in the international media, including Spanish outlet Marca, Sky Sport Italia, and other media outlets in countries like Australia, France, India, Indonesia, China, Ecuador, Mexico, the United States of America and Canada.

The Conference and Awards were the first international event to be organised with the physical participation and presence of international football stars and the game’s top decision-makers since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Stars love Dubai.

The international sports stars who attended the Conference, praised the event and expressed their desire to visit Dubai at different times of the year to enjoy a vacation with their family and friends.

Bayern Munich and Poland star Robert Lewandowski, winner of the Player of the Year Award, said: “I’m keen to visit Dubai regularly, every year. I love it here. There is always something new here, and the weather here is beautiful, I really want to stay here and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere in Dubai.”