Dubai: Algerian Olympic gold medallist Tawfiq Al Makloufi, the British Olympic Association (BOA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge will be among the prominent recipients of the Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sports Creativity Awards 2012.
The names of the 16 various winners were announced by Mattar Al Tayer, Vice-Chairman of Dubai Sports Council in the presence of Dr Ahmad Saad Al Sharif, General Secretary of DSC and Dr Atiq Odayat, a trustee of the awards board, at a glitzy function held at the Hotel InterContinental in Dubai Festival City on Monday. The awards will be presented to the winners at a special function to be held here on January 6, 2013.
Besides Rogge, Al Makloufi and the BOA, other prominent winners whose names were announced are the UAE’s Abdullah Sultan Al Aryani, who won a gold medal in shooting at the 2012 London Paralympic Games; the Qatar National Olympic Committee and a special athlete from Morocco, Najja Al Kara’a, who set a new world record in the discus throw at the 2012 Paralympic Games.
Algerian middle distance runner Al Makloufi did the Arab world proud when he who took the gold medal in the men’s 1,500m at the London Olympics.
“This award is all about achievement and the spirit of sport showed by the individuals and associated bodies in sports,” noted Al Tayer in his welcome address.
“The winners of this year’s award truly deserve to be rewarded for their commitment in upholding the principles of sports in reaching out to youths so that we can achieve the greater goals of a healthy and safer society,” he added.
After three years of awarding recipients UAE, Gulf and Arab levels, the Dubai Sports Council included a special international category to acknowledge the contribution to sport at the highest level starting from this year, the fourth edition of the awards.
The Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Creative Awards are the first of their kind organised by the Dubai Sports Council in an attempt to recognise and reward the commitment to creativity in various fields of specialization in sports. The awards are held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of DSC and the supervision of Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President, UAE National Olympic Committee.
