The 35-year-old collected the prestigious prize in Paris on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Oleksy was rewarded for an acrobatic overhead goal scored last November for the Warta Poznań amputee team.
In a vote by fans and expert panellists, his stunning scissor-kick effort beat strikes from Brazil’s Richarlison and France’s Dmitri Payet, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
'This beautiful sport makes it possible for us to find fulfillment'
Collecting the Puskás Award for the best goal of 2022, Oleksy told the audience in the French capital: "It’s been difficult for me to even dream about an award like this. I am standing before you today receiving the award for the best goal in the world."
He went on to say: "I am dedicating this award to Ewelina, Tomek, Tosia – because it was thanks to them that I was able to pick myself up after the accident and am here now, and can score such beautiful goals.”
The Polish amp footballer, who has a day job as a construction worker, added: "I also want to thank the entire football community because someone has created this beautiful sport that makes it possible for us to find fulfilment. Thank you very much."
Congratulations from PM
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki took to social media to congratulate Oleksy on his success.
Morawiecki wrote on Facebook: “Terrific news from Paris. Polish amp football international Marcin Oleksy has won the FIFA Puskás Award for best goal of the year for his strike in a game against Stal Rzeszów. My heartfelt congratulations!”
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi, who captained Argentina to their triumph at the 2022 World Cup, won FIFA's Best Men's Player award for 2022.
The Paris Saint-Germain striker beat two Frenchmen, PSG teammate Kylian Mbappé and Karim Benzema of Real Madrid, to the trophy.
In the previous two years, Poland’s Robert Lewandowski was named FIFA's world player of the year.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, FIFA
Radio Poland's Piotr Miszczuk spoke with Adrian Stanecki, an experienced amputee football player and a member of the board of the Polish Amp-Football Association.
Click on the audio player above to hear the interview.
