Kevin Spacey, Hugh Grant, Clive Owen, Kyle MacLachlan and Michelle Rodriguez will be in Abu Dhabi this week.
The American and British A-listers have confirmed their attendance for the Laureus World Sports Awards at Emirates Palace on March 9 and 10.
The event is being held to honour some of the greatest sportsmen and women of our time including Jenson Button and Serena Williams, who are among the nominees.
The stars from the world of television and film flying in to support the event include hugely popular British stars Grant and Owen and American actors MacLachlan, star of Desperate Housewives, and Rodriguez, who plays Trudy Chacon in Avatar and was Ana Lucia Cortez in the TV series Lost.
The impressive line-up of international celebrities from the world of sport, stage and screen will attend a glittering red carpet gala dinner on Wednesday night which will be broadcast around the world.
Nelson Mandela is the Patron of Laureus and at the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000 he said: “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair.”
The event will also host some of the biggest names from sport world including top Egyptian footballer Abdel Zaher Al-Saka, British Olympic boxing medalist Amir Khan, current Formula 1 world champion Button, German swimming sensation Britta Steffen and US basketball legend Julius Erving.
The Laureus World Sports Awards recognise sporting achievement during the period January 1 - December 31, 2009 and are the biggest honours on the international sporting calendar.
Last year 100m world record-holder Hussain Bolt was awarded Sportsman of the Year while pro surfer Kelly Slater picked up the award for the action category.
The winners are picked by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sports jury, made up of 46 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time.
They will be joined by a host of other big stars including cricket stalwarts, Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff and Michael Vaughan from England, Shaun Pollock from South Africa and Steve Waugh from Australia, Iranian tennis legend and crowd favourite Mansour Bahrami, British track star Dame Kelly Homes, Irish boxing marvel Barry McGuigan and ex-South African Springbok captain Francois Pienaar.
The list of stars expected goes on with tennis players, golfers, footballers and even English rower, Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave, who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000.
The names of the winners will be announced at the televised Awards Ceremony on Wednesday which will mark 10 years of the awards.
The full list of nominees for the 2010 Laureus World Sports Awards:
Laureus World Sportsman of the Year
Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia, Athletics), Usain Bolt (Jamaica, Athletics), Alberto Contador (Spain, Cycling), Roger Federer (Switzerland, Tennis), Lionel Messi (Argentina, Football), Valentino Rossi (Italy, Motor Cycling)
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year
Shelly-Ann Fraser (Jamaica, Athletics), Federica Pellegrini (Italy, Swimming), Sanya Richards (US, Athletics), Britta Steffen (Germany, Swimming), Lindsey Vonn (US, Skiing), Serena Williams (US, Tennis)
Laureus World Team of the Year
FC Barcelona (Spain, Football), Brawn GP Formula One Team (UK), Germany Women’s Football Team, Los Angeles Lakers (US, Basketball), New York Yankees (US, Baseball), South Africa Rugby Team
Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year
Jenson Button (UK, Motor Racing), Mark Cavendish (UK, Cycling), Tom Daley (UK, Diving), Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina, Tennis), Ji Yai Shin (South Korea, Golf), VFL Wolfsburg (Germany, Football)
Laureus World Comeback of the Year
Lance Armstrong (US, Cycling), Kim Clijsters (Belgium, Tennis), Jessica Ennis (UK, Athletics), Brett Favre (US, American Football), Blanka Vlasic (Croatia, Athletics), Tom Watson (US, Golf)
Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability
Justin Eveson (Australia, Wheelchair Basketball), Kurt Fearnley (Australia, Wheelchair Racing), Gizen Girismen (Turkey, Para-Archery), Shingo Kunieda (Japan, Wheelchair Tennis), Michael Teuber (Germany, Cycling), Natalie du Toit (S.Africa, Swimming)
Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year
Antoine Albeau (France, Windsurfing), Chris Cole (US, Skateboarding), Mick Fanning (Australia, Surfing), Stephanie Gilmore (Australia, Surfing), Greg Long (US, Surfing), Danny MacAskill (UK, Trials Bikes)
For more detailed biographies of all nominees and more information visit www.laureus.com/Awards/2010/Nominees
