Malawi women’s football icon Tabitha Chawinga has received encouraging messages after finishing 16th in this year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony held at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France on Monday.
Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmatí won the 2024 Women’s Ballon d’Or whereas her teammates Caroline Graham Hansen and Salma Paralluelo ended on second and third positions respectively.
National Women’s Football Association (NWFA) Chairperson Adellaide Migogo said Tabitha had defied odds, becoming the first Malawian to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or award and finishing in top 20.
“This is not an ordinary thing. Earning a nomination is an indication that she is on the right track. As an association we are behind her because we feel she will do better next time,” she said.
Migogo said Tabitha’s exploits were enough to inspire companies to support women’s football.
“Women’s is developing steadily. We feel this is the time we should get more support to propel the likes of Tabitha to break the jinx and at the same inspire youngsters to pick the sport,” she said.
On his part, Football Association of Malawi President Fleetwood Haiya hailed Tabitha for finishing on position 16 in the Ballon d’Or award race.
“Many congratulations to our ambassador Tabitha TC11 Chawinga for finishing 16th at the Ballon d’Or awards held in Paris, France last night. It is not a small feat to reach those heights, and we could not be more proud. Your incredible talent and hard work continue to shine on the global stage inspiring the whole nation,” Haiya wrote on his Facebook page.
Tabitha competed against the best 30 women footballers in the world including Zambian Barbara Banda, Aitana Bonmati (Spain, Barcelona), Lucy Bronze (England, Manchester City), Grave Geroyo (France, PSG), Lauren James, England, Chelsea) and Ada Hegerberg (Norway, Lyon).
Tabitha, who plays for Olympique Lyonnais in France, had a good season while on loan at another French club Paris Saint Germain where she was named Player of the Season after outstanding performance.
The 28-year-old also won the Golden Boot award after scoring 19 goals in the league.
In 2022, she made history as the first African to win the Golden Boot award after scoring 23 goals in 21 matches for Italian side Inter Milan Women.
While in China, Tabitha won several awards including Player of the Season twice and Golden Boot accolade.
Meanwhile, Bonmatí earned the award for the second year in a row after her six goals and six assists in the Women’s Champions League helped Barça to their third title, the Spain international scoring the opener in the 2-0 final victory against Lyon in Bilbao.
Bonmatí also impressed as Barça won a domestic treble.
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