Dubai: Barcelona's Argentine star Lionel Messi has been nominated for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award for the third year in a row, while his club also features among the nominees for World Team of the Year, organisers of the awards announced yesterday.
Czech tennis star Petra Kvitova and ‘Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius were nominated in two categories.
Kvitova was nominated in the Sportswoman and Breakthrough categories, while Pistorius qualifies for the Breakthrough and Disability Awards.
Dutch wheelchair tennis legend Esther Vergeer, a winner of the Laureus Disability Award in 2002 and 2008, was again nominated.
Sporting Oscars
The Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognise sporting achievement during the calendar year, is branded as the sporting Oscars. The winners — as voted by the Laureus World Sports Academy, which is made up of 47 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time — will be presented at a televised awards ceremony in London on February 6. Proceeds from the Laureus World Sports Awards directly benefit the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which supports 89 community sports projects around the world.
Since its inception, Laureus has raised €40 million (Dh191 million) for projects which have improved the lives of more than a million young people.
When the winners of the 2012 Laureus Awards are revealed, Messi will be hoping to become the first team player in history to be named winner of the individual Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award.
Also nominated in that category were Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who won two gold medals in the World Athletics Championships; tennis No 1 Novak Djokovic, who won the Australian, Wimbledon and US Open Grand Slams; Australian cyclist Cadel Evans, winner of the Tour de France, and Germans Dirk Nowitzki, the first European to be voted Most Valuable Player in the NBA Finals, and Sebastian Vettel, who won his second straight Formula One World Championship.
Taiwan golfer Yani Tseng is nominated for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award.
