The award is named after one of the best and most successful athletes from Amsterdam, athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen. Because of her unique career, with four gold medals in the athletics Olympic Games in London in 1948, she was named the world's Athlete of the Century.
 
The Fanny will be awarded in five categories, sportsman, sportswoman, sports team, coach and talent. The prize is awarded by a jury of the Amsterdam sports press and the public.