Nahyan bin Mubarak,Saudi Princess Rima win top honours

Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance, has been named the UAE Sports Personality of the Year at the 9th Edition 2017 of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award, while Princess Rima bint Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud of Saudi Arabia has picked up the corresponding award for Arab Sports Personality.

The winners were announced at a press conference on Monday afternoon in Dubai by Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award, which is one of the entities under the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives. Moaza Al Marri, Secretary-General of the Award, Mustapha Larfaoui, Member of the Award’s Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Jury Committee, were also present on the occasion.

Sheikh Nahyan was bestowed the honour for his contributions as Chairman of the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare, while Princess Rima – Deputy President of the Sports Authority for Planning and Development and the first female to head a Saudi Sports Federation, has picked up the award for her contributions in founding and regulating women’s sport in Saudi Arabia by introducing sports among girls at public schools.

Omar Abdul Rahman, the UAE and Al Ain Football Superstar who was named AFC Player of the Year for 2016, has picked up the UAE Outstanding Athlete Award, while Egyptian squash player Nour Atef El Sherbini, the Women’s World No1 who has won back-to-back World Open titles in 2015 and 2016, has been named the Arab Outstanding Athlete.

The 9th Edition of the Awards considered the sporting achievements of individuals, teams and organisations during the period September 20, 2016 to August 31, 2017 and all the winners will be honoured at a glittering Awarding Ceremony on January 10, 2018.

Speaking on the occasion, Al Tayer, who is also Vice Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, said, "Thanks to the generous care and efforts of the Board of Trustees and employees of the award, and the efforts of local and Arab media organisations in supporting the work of the Award and the distribution of its message, the 9th Edition 2017 of the Award has grown significantly in terms of numbers and the quality of entries.'' "Although the qualifying period for the 9th Edition 2017 of the Awards did not witness any Olympic Games and there were few major international events during this period, there was a significant increase in the number of entries. We received 297 entries for this edition, which is 99 more than what we received for the 8th Edition of the Awards (198), a jump of 50 per cent.'' "We saw an increase in the number of entries for the Awards in the different UAE categories as well. Last time, we received 72 files; this time, that number has gone up to 87. The number of entries we received from International Sports Federations also went up from 15 to 26, an increase of about 73 per cent."

Empowerment of Women, as decreed by The Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum , was one of the principal focus of the 9th Edition 2017 of the MBR Creative Sports Award and Al Tayer was pleased to see the presence of a number of women, like Princess Rima and El Sherbini, in the winners’ list.

The full list of awardees runs as follows: UAE Sports Personality Award Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan (UAE) Arab Sports Personality Award Princess Rima bint Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud (KSA) UAE Outstanding Athlete Award: Omar Abdul Rahman Al AMoodi (Football) UAE Referee Award: Ebrahim Yousef Al Mansoori (Beach Soccer) UAE Coach Award: Saeed Bin Suroor Al Khaldi (Horse Racing) UAE Organisation Award: UAE Jiu Jitsu Federation Arab Outstanding Athlete Award: Nour Atef El Sherbini (Egypt - Squash) Arab Administrator Award: Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Al Gannas (KSA) Arab Referee Award: Tarek Bin Mohamed Souei (Tunisia) Arab Coach Award: Faris Ibrahim Al Assaf (Jordan) Arab Team Award: Iraqi Youth Football Team U16 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 until Dec 31) 1. Hussain Yousuf Anwar (Football) 2. Ammar Mohammed Al Sedrani (Chess) 3. Maitha Abdulla Hasan (Judo) 4. Wadima Saeed Abdulla (Jiu Jitsu) 5. Omar Mohammed Alwan (Jiu Jitsu) 6. Abdalla Guhloom Al Maazimi (Taekwondo) Arab Emerging Athlete Award: Mohammed Mustafa Al Sowaiq (KSA - Taekwondo) Distinguished Athletes Achievement Sports Award: Farida Hisham Osman (Egypt - Swimming) Difficult Challenges Award (People of Determination Category) 1. Abdellatif Baka (Algeria - Athletics) 2. Fouad Baka (Algeria - Athletics) Olympic Creative Sports Award 1. Mohammed Gammoudi (Tunisia - Athletics) 2. Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco - Athletics)