Hamdan bin Mohammed honours winners of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, and Patron of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award, and His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, honoured the winners of the eleventh edition of the Award.

Prominent athletes, officials and sports entities from the UAE, the Arab region and across the world were recognised at the 11th Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award ceremony that took place today at the South Hall of the Dubai Exhibition Centre located within the Dubai Expo 2020 venue. His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Award’s Board of Trustees participated in honouring the winners. His Excellency Abdulla Al Basti, Secretary General of The Executive Council of Dubai; Major General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA); His Excellency Abdulla Ali bin Zayed Al Falasi, Director General, Dubai Government Human Resources Department (DGHR); His Excellency Ahmad Saeed bin Meshar Al Muhairi, Secretary General, Supreme Legislation Committee; His Excellency Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council; Moaza Al Marri, Secretary General of the Award, and other members of the Award's Board of Trustees also attended the event. 

Heads of national, Arab and international sports federations and clubs and officials and decision-makers in the international sports sector were also present at the glittering ceremony.

The ceremony began with the UAE national anthem and a film about the eleventh session of the Award, which coincides with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the UAE. The film featured statistics about the participants and winners of the award and the presentation of a commemorative silver coin issued by the Award.

Attendees at the ceremony were also shown a movie, titled ‘The Story of a Hero’, which showed the incredible journey of Iraqi Paralympian Jarrah Nassar who rose from a humble background to win a shot-put gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games and a silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games held earlier this year. Jarrah also won two World Championships gold medals and a silver medal.

Honouring the winners

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum presented The Arab Organisation Award to Egypt’s Al Ahly Club, which was received by Mahmoud El Khatib. Chairman of Al Ahly Club. HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed also presented The International Organisation Award, which was given to the Switzerland-based International Handball Federation. The award was received by Joel Delplanque, the 1st Vice President of IHF. Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, won the Arab Sports Personality Award, which was received on his behalf by Jassim Rashid Al Buainain, Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Mahmoud El Khatib said: “Today, I have the honour to be among you, and in this wonderful place, Expo 2020 Dubai, to receive this prestigious award. Present with me here are a group of champions from different Arab countries, and I am honoured to be a speaker on their behalf.”

“This Award will surely be an incentive for us all – as well as hundreds of other athletes from the Arab world - to remain on this path of creativity and excellence and aim for greater achievements. This Award tremendously motivates us to work harder and achieve brilliance, especially because it bears the name of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. This recognition is even more prestigious and dear to us because of the name associated with it.

“Thank you for launching this great award, which aims to develop sports in the UAE, the Arab region and the world. Thank you for this appreciation and honour. I hope that the journey of creativity and brilliance in Arab sports will continue and gather even greater pace,” he added.

HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed also honoured winners in the Local Emerging Athlete Who Achieved Outstanding Success in Sports category of the Award, which was decided on the basis of a public vote (50 per cent weightage) as well as votes of the jury (50 per cent).

More than 231,216 people cast their votes through Dubai Sports Channel and the Award’s smart apps. Saif Jasem Al Mansoori won the top spot among the six shortlisted athletes, followed by Mohammed Saeed Binham Al Ameri, Salwa Ahmed Al Mansoori, Alyaziah Tariq Abdulsalam, Rahma Khalfan Al Murshidi and Yousuf Rashed Al Matrooshi.

His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed presented awards to winners in other categories, including: Ahmed Mohammed Al Hammadi (The Local Referee Award); Abdulaziz Muhammad Al-Yasi (The Local Coach Award); Abdul Hamid Ibrahim Al Hosani (The Local Coach Award); Egypt’s Aya Medany (The Arab Administrator Award); Zayed Abdulnaser Al Katheeri (An Outstanding Local Athlete Award); Tunisian Walid Katila (Athlete Who Accomplished an Achievement Despite Difficult Challenges Award - People of Determination category) and Iraq's Jarrah Nassar (Athlete Who Accomplished an Achievement Despite Difficult Challenges Award - People of Determination category); and Syria's Maan Abdel Moeen Asaad (Athlete Who Accomplished an Outstanding Achievement Award).

HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed also presented The Arab Team Award to the Algerian national football team, which was received by Hakim Madan, a member of the Executive Office of the Algerian Football Federation; and honoured the Arab stars of the Tokyo Olympic Games - Tunisia's Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui (The Arab Athlete Award) and Tarek Ali Hamdi of Saudi Arabia (The Arab Athlete Award).

HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed also presented The Local Organisation Award to Zayed Higher Organization for People of Determination, which was received by Abdullah Abdul Ali Al Humaidan, Secretary General of the organisation, and The Local Administrator Award to Anas Nasser Al Otaiba, President of the Asian Boxing Confederation and Vice President of the International Boxing Association. The UAE National Endurance Team won the Local Team Award, which was received by Major General Dr. Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, President of the UAE Equestrian and Racing Federation.

HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed also honoured the strategic partners of the award, which included Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Nakheel, and Dragon Oil.