Dubai: Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Bahrain's Shaikh Eisa Bin Rashid Al Khalifa were bestowed with the Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Awards.
Shaikh Mansour, also the owner of current English Premier League leaders Manchester City Football Club, was chosen for the highest award from among an impressive list of 135 nominees from 16 countries across the Arab region.
The awards panel found him to be a deserving winner following his well-documented achievement in the sporting world, mainly based on his acquisition and successful ascension of Manchester club.
Shaikh Eisa is a prominent sports personality in the Arab world, thanks to his involvement in various disciplines. He is also the Deputy President of Supreme Council of Youth and Sports in Bahrain.
Also featuring prominently in the list of 22 winners was Class One Powerboat World Champion Nader Bin Hindi of the Fazza Team, along with top sportspersons, officials and federations from across the Arab region. The winners will be officially presented with their awards in the first week of January.
Going global
"It is our intention from next year to request for international applications," said Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the award.
"The Arab Spring has not had any sort of effect on us in this part of the world. And this award has indeed gone a long way in portraying what we stand for on the international scene," he added.
The judging panel was headed by Dr Atef Obidat, former Jordanian Minister of Youth and Sport, along with a committee of seven experts in various disciplines of sports. The assessment process consists of eight steps to choose the winners starting with an initial vetting process where prospective candidates are judged based on their sporting ability, be it on the field or off it.
Dr Obidat said the judging panel did not face any problems while choosing the most worthy sportsperson this year too due to the clear-cut and transparent guidelines.
"The selection is easier when you have a well-articulated vision along with a panel of expert judges who have a lot of respect in their field of work," Dr Obidat said.
Transparency
"Our experience of three years with the judging process of this award has been excellent. This year we roped in the expertise of an additional 10 experts so that we could have better transparency in the judging process," he said.
The inaugural year of the award saw 116 nominees followed by 132 last year and 135 this year.
The award is held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman, Dubai Sports Council.
