Premios Periodísticos del Sevilla FC 2017
The Club

PHOTOJOURNALIST AWARDS RECOGNISE THE WORK OF THE LOCAL AND NATIONAL MEDIA

04/10/2017
The Madrid-born journalist Rubén Uría took home the SFC José Antonio Blázquez first prize, whilst other winners included photojournalists José Javier Comas and José Luis Roca, journalists Antonio Viola and Manuel Díaz Salado and newspaper Estadio Deportivo

This Wednesday marked the 8th  SFC José Antonio Blázquez awards for journalism and the 5th SFC Ruesga Bono award for photography. In this ceremony, the awards expanded beyond the local level, something confirmed by the growth of these prizes. The first prize of the day recognised work originally published on social media. The protagonist, photographer from ABC de Sevilla, José Javier Comas. The winning image of the 5th SFC Ruesga Bono award goes by the name Albero - a photo of a Sevilla stand lit-up on a cloudy evening when Sevilla played Real Sociedad. Comas was congratulated for being "the first Twitter user to receive this award". 

Shortly after came the SFC Ruesga Bono prize. Ten years following on from the death of Antonio Puerta, there was no better time to pay homage to the man responsible for a photograph for the ages. José Luis Roca was the man responsible for capturing the iconic moment when Antonio Puerta kissed his fist immediately after scoring against Schalke 04.  An image viewed thousands of times, representative even after the death of the club legend. Roca, that made a reflection on the importance of the photojournalist in portraying the immediate reality, he emphasised that in this case, the image has remained throughout history: "It serves to remember a well-loved person". 

The special SFC Ruesga Bono prize was awarded to José Luis Roca for his renowned photo of Antonio Puerta

It was also the day for the SFC José Antonio Blázquez, whose second prize went to Manuel Díaz Salado and Antonio Viola of El Correo. The piece in question sheds light on the first Football match played in Spain, reflected in the pages of El Correo Andalucía. Its accompaniment was a televised piece broadcasted on El Correo TV which explored the origins of the organisation, officially established in the 19th century. Díaz Salado expressed his gratitude towards the club for all the work they do for the profession and the collaboration of club historians in opening their doors to document this, and many other works. For his part, Viola recognised the efforts of his team. 

First prize went to Madrid-born journalist Rubén Uría. In his article  Ya caerá el Sevilla, published on a Eurosport.es blog. Uría highlights Sevilla FC's work over recent years that has contributed to the team becoming worthy of anyone's support, alongside the biggest names in the sport. His piece was written at the height of a campaign in which the side went head to head with Madrid and Barcelona for the title. Ruben Uría, in a touching speech, recognised the club as "his second home" despite not being born in Seville nor being a Sevillista. He also highlighted the growth of the club in previous years and all the effort that has gone into it. As in his article, he congratulated the club on reaching high-level competition. He also addressed leading figures Manuel Ruesga Bono and José Antonio Blázquez, who have had a lot written and read about them in the last few days.  Finally, he encouraged the organisation not to give up because "someday the biggest will fall and Sevilla FC will be able to tear down the wall".

Rubén Uría encouraged the team to not give up and considered the club as "his second home"

The awards presentation came to a close with the special José Antonio Blázquez prize for Estadio Deportivo, a local entity that for 22 years has been sold from the newstands and kiosks in Seville and is currently the only Andalucian sports newspaper. The newspaper's editor, Joaquín Adorna, received the prize on behalf of the whole team: "Sevilla FC has taken the criticisms well and I hope that, as Rubén Uría has already said, the team can tear down the wall. We thank the club for allowing us to tell great things". He also highlighted the role of less-recognised, local sport, in his newspaper, which he said also formed part of the award. 

After the President's speech and photos of the award-winners, it was time for the long-awaited lunch with the media hosts, in which they toasted to good health, despite the enormous difficulties that these times demand with regards to sports journalism in the city of Seville.