Spanish govt hands Iniesta highest award for sport

The Spanish government on Friday agreed to award FC Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta the highest recognition they can give to a sports personality.

The award is the Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit (Gran Cruz de la Real Orden del Merito Deportivo.)

The news was confirmed by Spanish government spokesman and Minister for Education, Culture and Sport, Inigo Mendez de Vigo following Friday's weekly cabinet meeting and comes a week after the 33-year-old confirmed he will leave Barcelona at the end of the season after 22 years at the club.

This award had previously been given to such personalities as Vicente del Bosque, who led Spain to victory in the 2010 World Cup, where Iniesta scored the winning goal, as well as his companions in that World Cup winning side, Iker Casillas and Xabi Hernandez.

"Iniesta has ended his time at Barcelona with his 32nd trophy and he has been one of the people who have most represented the Spanish football team," said Mendez d Vigo.

Iniesta has yet to confirm where he will play his football next season, but reports in Spain indicate he will join the Chinese Super League club, Chongqing Dandai Lifan in a lucrative deal.

The El Mundo newspaper published on Thursday that Iniesta has agreed a three-season deal with the club worth 27 million euros a season in wages, plus a further 36 million a year through the sale of six million bottles of wine from his winery at a price of 6 euros a bottle for the three years of his contract.