The NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been given the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Adolf Hitler, the Ayatollah Khomeini and Joseph Stalin (twice) to become Time’s Person of the Year.
The award is chosen by the magazine’s editors to recognise the person who has done the most to influence the news over the year. According to Time, Goodell’s “leadership has been under great scrutiny this year as the league dealt with public incidents of domestic abuse by players such as Ray Rice, among other controversies”.
While Time often recognises positive contributions – Martin Luther King and Winston Churchill are previous winners – Goodell’s inclusion is more likely down to the controversies that have plagued the league rather than his ability to bring in ever increasing profits.
The other seven to make the shortlist are the Ferguson protestors, Ebola caregivers, Vladimir Putin, Taylor Swift, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Masoud Barzani, leader of the Iraqi Kurds.
Time will reveal the winner on Wednesday. The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, won the readers’ poll for person of the year.
