Dubai: American basketball star Kobe Bryant will be up against the best of Europe in the form of Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Rafael Nadal and Sebastian Vettel and Asian boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao when the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year is announced in Abu Dhabi on Monday evening.
Running for glory in the womens' category are Americans Serena Williams and skiing champion Lindsey Vonn against the likes of Europe's best that includes Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki, Jessica Ennis (UK, athletics) and Blanka Vlasic (Croatia, athletics).
The Laureus World Sports Awards honours the greatest sportsmen and women across all sports each year with the winners selected by the sports jury consisting of 46 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy.
The proceeds from the Laureus World Sports Awards directly benefit the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation which supports 83 community sports projects around the globe.
There is a two-part voting process to find the winners of the Laureus World Sports Awards.
Categories
At first, a Selection Panel of the world's leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters vote to create a short-list of six nominations in five categories: Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year, Laureus World Team of the Year, Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year and Laureus World Comeback of the Year.
The nominations for two additional categories, namely the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year and the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability are produced by Specialist Panels.
The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy then vote by secret ballot to select the award winners in all seven categories.
With Nelson Mandela as its patron, Laureus was founded by its Richemont and Daimler and is supported by global partners Mercedes-Benz, IWC Schaffhausen and Vodafone.
