Dubai: The UAE’s Minister of Tolerance Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan and Saudi Arabia’s Princess Rima Bint Bandar Bin Sultan Al Saud picked up the top two awards at the ninth edition of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Creative Sports Awards.
Shaikh Nahyan was chosen as the winner of the UAE Sports Personality Award for his contribution to the sports sector especially in his previous portfolio as Chairman of the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW).
Princess Rima won the Arab Sports Personality Award for her role played in the empowerment of women in the region through her spirit of entrepreneurship and philanthropy.
Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award announced the names of the winners in the presence of Moaza Al Marri, General Secretary of the Award and Mustapha Larfaoui, Chairman of the Jury Committee.
“This time the focus was on women and their contribution in sports within our society. I am extremely pleased that a person like Princess Rima has bagged the Arab Sports Personality Award as this will further encourage women in our region to push towards excellence,” Al Marri told Gulf News.
“At the same time we have past sportspeople such as Hichem Al Guerrouj on the winners’ list and this demonstrates that we appreciate the contribution they have made to fly the Arab flag high internationally through their sport. This year’s distribution of awards also shows the wide variety and range of sports from squash to cricket within the ambit of this event.”
Larfaoui, a former president with Fina, the world governing body for swimming, was pleased with the evolution and growth of this award. “Next year we will mark 10 years of this award and we have to start thinking about doing something special,” he said.
“Perhaps we need to do a bit of streamlining within the award and the categories. We will be meeting in the near future and we shall see where we are headed,” Larfaoiu added.
UAE and Al Ain midfielder Omar Abdul Rahman, who was named AFC Player of the Year in 2016, Egyptian squash star Nour Atef Al Sherbini and former Moroccan distance runne Hichem El Guerrouj were among the other prominent winners in their respective categories.
Launched in 2008, the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award is one of the entities that falls under the MBD Global Initiatives announced in 2010 by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai as part of the ‘UAE Vision 2021’. There is a total amount of Dh7.5 million on offer in all categories. The presentation of awards will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) on January 10.
AWARDS
UAE Sports Personality Award: Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan
Arab Sports Personality Award: Princess Rima Bint Bandar Bin Sultan Al Saud (Saudi Arabia)
UAE Outstanding Athlete Award: Omar Abdul Rahman (Football)
UAE Referee Award: Ebrahim Yousuf Al Mansouri (Beach Soccer)
UAE Coach Award: Saeed Bin Surour (Horse Racing)
UAE Organisation Award: UAE Jiu Jitsu Federation
Arab Outstanding Athlete Award: Nour Atef El Sherbini (Squash/Egypt)
Arab Administrator Award: Dr Ebrahim Mohammad Al Gannas (Saudi Arabia)
Arab Referee Award: Tarek Bin Mohammad Souei (Tunisia)
Arab Coach Award: Faris Ebrahim Al Assaf (Jordan)
Arab Team Award: Iraq U-16 Football Team
International Organisation Award (Association of Summer Olympic International Federations): Union Cycliste International (UCI)
International Organisation Award (Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations): International Cricket Council (ICC)
UAE Emerging Athlete Award Nominees (Voting to continue till December 31): Hussain Yousuf Anwar (Football); Ammar Mohammad Al Sedrani (Chess); Maitha Abdullah Hassan (Judo); Wadima Saeed Abdullah (Jiu Jitsu); Omar Mohammad Alwan (Jiu Jitsu); Abdullah Ghuloom Al Maazmi (Taekwondo)
Arab Emerging Athlete Award: Mohammad Mustafa Al Sowaiq (Taekwondo/Saudi Arabia)
Distinguished Athletes Achievement Sports Award: Farida Hisham Osman (Swimming/Egypt)
Difficult Challenges Award (People with Determination Category): Abdel Latif Baka (Athletics/Algeria); Fouad Baka (Athletics/Algeria)
Olympic Creative Sports Award: Mohammad Gammoudi (Athletics/Tunisia); Hicham El Huerrouj (Athletics/Morocco)
