25 Winners in the 6th Edition of the "Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award"

The Board of Trustees of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award announced the winners from the 19 categories in the 6th Edition of the largest award in terms of value and categories, the first of its kind ever devoted to creativity in sports.

H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Said Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline & Group, was chosen as the " Local Sports Figure." Whereas, Mr. Mohamed Raouraoua from Algeria has been chosen as the "Arab Sports Figure" in recognition of his efforts to support and improvement of sports in the Arab world. Also, H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco has been chosen as the "International Sports Figure" for his contributions in spreading and developing sports practice worldwide. In addition, Mrs. Rania Elwani from Egypt has won the award of "Arab Sports Figure contributed to the enrichment of women sports movement." Winners of this award are chosen by the Board of Trustees without presenting a candidature files, as an appreciation of their role in promoting the sports movement and their recognized accomplishments over the past years.

This announcement came during a press conference held on Tuesday, 25th November, 2014 , in the presence of His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, His Excellency Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council, Dr. Atef Odibat, Member of the Board of Trustees and Vice President of the Jury, as well as members of the Board of Trustees and representatives of Sports and media institutions in the UAE.

H.E. Mattar Al Tayer launched the press conference by saying: "I am pleased to announce the names of 25 winners of Sports figures and institutions in the 6th Edition of the biggest and most important Sports award. First, it is linked with the name of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai.

Second, this award is known for its value and diversity of its categories. I am also both pleased and honored that winners of the award in its 6th Edition are announced few days prior to the national celebrations of the UAE’s Union, a country which has set an example in the eyes of the Arab region and the whole world for following wise policies and giving endlessly.

On this occasion, we are delighted to ensure to H.H. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and his brother H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, that we are a support to this country and its wise leadership. We would also like to reiterate that we follow the path of the UAE founders, H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and H.H. Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, founders of the Union."

Al Tayer added that "The 6th Edition witnessed a significant increase in the number of files that were judged, with a total of 226 local, regional and international files among 262 files presented to the award. This Edition showed an important increase in the participation of International Sports Federations scoring a rate of 93%. Although the award is still in its third year of global expansion, we can notice that its status has been clearly enhanced, which confirms that the award has become a locomotive for sports excellence and creativity, not only locally and regionally, but globally. The award’s Board of Trustees has adopted the decisions made by the judging panel and has raised them to His Highness, President of the award, with the suggested winners of appreciation prizes. His Highness has approved the winners’ list which will be announced today, winners will be honored during a special celebration that will be held on January, 14th, 2015 at Dubai World Trade Centre.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees ended his speech by saying: "While we are congratulating the winners, we wish that this award will be a new addition to life, not any other ordinary addition, but a step taken towards the endless distinction race."

The total number of nominees has reached 262, which marks a great increase from the last Edition which received 226 files. The number of nominees on the local level has reached 63, on the Arab level 176, in comparison with 137 during the last Edition, whereas internationally the award received the nomination of 23 International Sports Federations, which is the same number as the last Edition.

The Local level

At the United Arab Emirates level, Faisal Fahad Ahmad Al Ketbi, has won the "Local Athlete Award" after winning the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2014; he is ranked number 1 in Jiu-Jitsu worldwide.

The United Arab Emirates Men's Handball Team has received the "Team Creativity Award" after qualifying for the World Championship for Men's Handball (Qatar, 2015).

Mamemo Productions has won the "Local Sports Institution Award" for creating and organizing the Beach Polo Cup.

Arab Level

Ayanleh Souleiman Hassan from Djibouti has won the "Arab Athlete Award" after scoring the gold medal in the IAAF World Athletics Championships 2014 in the 1500 meters.

Djamel Hamoudi from the Republic of Algeria has won the title of the "Arab Referee" after participating in the 2014 Brazil World Cup Finals.

Abdel Hakim Mohamed Issa Al Shino, from the Kingdom of Bahrain has won the "Creative Arab Administrator Award" for being the first Arab and Asian president to become President of International Military Sports Council in 2014.

The Saudi Football Special Needs Team from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has received the "Arab Team Award" for scoring three consecutive wins at the INAS World Football Championship, in 2006, 2010 and 2014.

Fitness Time from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has won the "Creative Arab Institution Award" for launching a sports program that aims to orient society towards a healthy lifestyle and encourage individuals to practice sports daily.

The International Level

The International Hockey Federation (FIH), has won the "International Creative Organization Award" in recognition of its efforts in organizing the Rabobank Hockey World Cup 2014.

Appreciation Categories

The athletes and sports organizations winners of the 10 appreciation awards granted during the 6th Edition were announced, and the selection was as follows:

The "Arab Emerging Athlete Award" has been given to the Egyptian player Ahmed Akram Mohamed Abbas who achieved tremendous success in the sports field, after winning the 800m freestyle at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing 2014.

Ibrahim Al Husseini Hamato from Egypt has won an appreciation award for the category of "athlete who achieved success in sports despite major humanitarian challenges (category of people with special needs)" after earning second place and winning the silver medal during the African Para Table Tennis Championships- Men’s Category 6 Sharm El Sheikh- December 2013.

Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa from the Kingdom of Bahrain, has received the award of the "athlete who achieved tremendous success" for organizing the 42 km Khalid Bin Hamad Swimming Challenge from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain. He participated in this challenge and scored first place by completing it in 20 hours.

Mahdi Abdulrahim Abu Al Hassan has won the "Local Referee Award" for being the first Arab and Emirati nominated by the FIDE World Chess Federation as head of the arbiter’s panel during the FIDE World Blitz & Rapid Championship. This award was also given to Yaacoub Ghabesh for being one of the most prominent names among basketball referees both on the International and Arab level. He has also contributed to the success of the Dubai International Basketball Tournament since its beginning in 1989, after working as a referee in its previous edition, where he was a referee in more than 90 games, 9 of which are finals.

Ahmad Al Kamali has received the "Best Local Administrator" among the appreciation category.

Youth Category

As per the directives of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai , Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, Patron of the Award , to support and honor emerging Emirati athletes, several emerging athletes have been chosen among the 6 nominees. Viewers will be responsible of voting, in collaboration with Dubai Sports Channel, to choose 3 of the nominees and honor them during the celebration of 6th Edition of January, 14th, 2015. The list is as follows:

1. Mohamed Saeed Sultan Al Kaabi (Athletics) for those with special needs, for receiving the gold medal at the Malaysia 2013 Asian Youth Para Games.

2. Salem Ahmed Abdullah Al Shehhi (Athletics) for those with special needs, for receiving the silver medal at the 100 meters and bronze medal at the 1500 meters in wheelchair racing at the London Youth Games.

3. Faris Abdullah Mohammed El Janahi (ground tennis) for winning the individuals and pairs silver medals at the Asian under 14 Championship in Qatar.

4. Amna Noaman Mohammed Al Ali (Chess) for winning the Arab under 20 Chess Championship title and receiving an international title.

5. Rashid Abdullah Souwaidan (bicycles) for being the Emirates and Golf Cycling Champion.

6. Issa Ibrahim El Bloushi (ping pong) for winning the silver medal for the 16th Golf National Teams Ping Pong Championship in Jeddah, in 2013.

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