The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award honors individuals, teams and organizations who have made significant sporting contributions in the United Arab Emirates and globally. It is designed to celebrate and promote the best initiatives in projects or programmes in the sporting field, such as Tolerance, Knowledge Management, Empowering Communities and tackling global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic.
History The Award, one of the Mohammed bin Rashid Global Initiatives, was launched in 2009 and in 2021 offered Dhs7.5 million (US$2 million) in prize money. The 11th edition of the Award was postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 award has been used to highlight the role of women in sports. Prominent Middle Eastern female winners of the award have included Moroccan Paralympian Najat El Garaa; Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, Member of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Member of the Board of Directors of the Bahrain Olympic Committee, and Chairperson of the Bahraini Women’s Sports Committee and Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States, who won the Arab Sports Personality of the Award in the 9th Edition. Female members of the Award's Board of Trustees have included Moroccan Olympic champion Nawal El Moutawakel, Dr Mona Al Bahar and Mona Bou Samra, the editor-in-chief of Al Bayan newspaper.
The award maintains links with 204 National Olympic Committees, 178 Paralympic Committees, 33 international sports federations for summer Olympic sports and seven international sports federations for winter Olympic sports, as well as with 69 Arab national Olympic federations and committees, and 34 international federations recognized by the International Olympic Committee. The International category of the award is open to Summer Olympic International Federations.
In 2018, a number of Egyptian athletes were awarded, including footballer Mohammed Salah. International sporting bodies receiving the award have included UWW, ICC and FIFA.
Board of trustees Following are the Board of Trustees for the award. Designation Name Country Chairman Mr. Mattar Mohammed Al-Tayer Deputy Chairman Khalid Ali Bin Zayed Al-Falasi Members Dr. Hassan Moustafa Dr. Mustapha Larfaoui Dr. Khalifa Rashid Al-Shaali Mr. Ahmed Mosaed Al-Osaimi Ms. Muna Darwish Busamra Secretary General Ms. Moaza Saeed Al-Marri
Award Categories There are three main categories: Individual Sports Creativity This award is given to Individuals such as players, coaches, referees, and administrators who have accomplished creative sports achievements on the local, Arab, continental or international level.
Group Sports Creativity This award is given to sports groups which have achieved creative sports works on the local, Arab, continental or international level.
Corporate Sports Creativity This award is given to sports institutes which have achieved creative sports works and best initiatives on the local, Arab, continental or international level.
Local Awards These awards are given to athletes, officials or organisations of United Arab Emirates only.
Best Local Athlete Year Winner Sport 2009 Mr. Ahmed Sultan Al Ketbi Equestrian 2010 Mr. Yahya Mansour Al-Hammadi Jujutsu 2011 Mr. Nader Mujtahed Ali Bin Hindi Water ski Mr. Salem Abdulrahman Mohamed Saleh Chess 2012 Mr. Abdulla Sultan Hamad Masoud Al-Aryani Shooting 2013 None Awarded 2014 Mr. Faisal Fahad Ahmed Al-Koutby Jujutsu 2015 Mr. Saif Bin Futtais Shooting 2016 None Awarded 2017 Omar Abdulrahman Ahmed Al-Raaki Al-Amoodi Football
Best Local Referee Year Winner Sport 2009 None Awarded 2010 None Awarded 2011 Mr. Omar Mohamed Zubaeer Al-Marzouqi Handball Mr. Mohammad Rashid Al-Nuaimi Handball 2012 Mr. Hamed Mohammed Ahmed Al-Rousy Volleyball 2013 Mr. Sultan Ali Mohammed Al-Taher Chess 2014 Mr. Mahdi Abdulrahim Abu El-Hassan Chess Mr. Yaqoub Ghabish Basketball 2015 Mr. Mohammed Essa Al Adhab Equestrian 2016 Mr. Khamis Hassan Al-Shamsi Futsal 2017 Mr. Ebrahim Yousef Khalaf Al-Mansoori Football
Best Local Coach Year Winner Sport 2009 Mahdi Ali Football 2010 None Awarded 2011 Abdullah Sweidan Said Bin Sweidan Cycling 2012 None Awarded 2013 None Awarded 2014 None Awarded 2015 None Awarded 2016 Mr. Ismail Mohammad Abdulrahman Al-Jeziri Equestrian 2017 Mr. Saeed Bin Suroor Al Khaldi
Best Local Team Year Winner Sport 2009 UAE Youth National Football Team Football 2010 UAE National Bowling Team Bowling 2011 UAE National Football Team Football 2012 Al-Nasr Sports Cultural Club (Men's Table Tennis Team) Table tennis 2013 Victory Team 3 Powerboating 2014 UAE National Handball Team Handball 2015 UAE National Disabled Shooting Team Shooting 2016 None Awarded 2017 None Awarded
Best Local Administrator Year Winner Sport 2009 Mohammed Ahmed Bin Sulayem Auto race 2010 Ali Hamad Madhad Saif Al-Badwawi Football 2011 None Awarded 2012 None Awarded 2013 None Awarded 2014 Mr. Ahmad Al Kamali Athletics 2015 Mr. Majid Abdulla Mushed Rashed Paralympics 2016 Mr. Naser Mohamed Al-Tamimi Judo 2017 None Awarded
Best Local Organisation Year Winner Sport 2009 Sharjah Ladies Club United Arab Emirates Athletics Federation Athletics 2010 Al Ain Sports and Cultural Club Different sports 2011 UAE Taekwondo and Karate Federation Taekwondo & Karate Al-Theqa Disabled Club 2012 United Arab Emirates Wrestling, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu and Kickboxing Federation Wrestling, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing 2013 Mamemo Productions Beach water polo 2014 None Awarded 2015 SkyDive Dubai Different sports Abu Dhabi Falcons Club 2016 UAE Paralympic Committee Paralympics 2017 UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation Jujutsu
Arab Awards These awards are given to the athletes of Arab countries.
Best Arab Player Year Winner Country Sport 2009 Mr. Oussama Mellouli Swimming 2010 Mr. Ali Mohammed Al-Asi Gymnastics 2011 Mr. Ibrahim Sabry Archery 2012 Mr. Taoufik Makhloufi Athletics 2013 Mr. Mutaz Essa Barshim Athletics 2014 Mr. Ayanleh Souleiman Athletics 2015 Mr. Ihab Abdelrahman Athletics 2016 Mr. Ahmad Abughaush Taekwondo 2017 Ms. Nour Atef Ahmed Zaki El Sherbini Squash
Best Arab Coach Year Winner Country Sport 2009 Mr. Hassan Shehata Football 2010 Mr. Jama Mohamed Aden AthleticsNot awarded from 2011 to 2014 2015 Mr. Kheïreddine Madoui Football 2016 Mr. Ali Al Zahrani Karate 2017 Mr. Faris Ali Ibrahim Al Assaf Taekwondo
Best Arab Team Year Winner Country Sport 2009 Oman National Football Team Football 2010 None Awarded 2011 Egypt National Youth Handball Team Handball 2012 None Awarded 2013 Al Ahly SC (Football Team) Football 2014 Saudi Arabia Disabled Football Team Football 2015 None Awarded 2016 Bahrain Royal Endurance Team Equestrian 2017 Iraq National U-16 Football Team Football
Best Arab Organisation Year Winner Country Sport 2009 Tunisia National Center for Medicine and Sports Science 2010 Sudan Athletics Association Athletics 2011 Bahrain Olympic Committee 2012 Qatar Olympic Committee 2013 Sports Institute Pierre de Coubertin 2014 Fitness Time Corporation 2015 Sports Department of Egyptian Armed Forces 2016 Sheikha Althani for Underprivileged Children 2017 None Awarded
Best International Organisation Year Winner Country Sport Not awarded between 2009 – 2011 2012 British Olympic Association 2013 Fédération Internationale de Football Association Football 2014 International Hockey Federation Hockey 2015 International Judo Federation Judo 2016 Badminton World Federation Badminton British Paralympic Association 2017 Union Cycliste Internationale Cycling International Cricket Council Cricket
Other Awards 2009 Award Winner Country Sports Figure Contributed to the Enrichment of the Local Sports Movement Award Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Sports Figure Contributed to the Enrichment of the Arab Sports Movement Award Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah Athlete Achieved Success within Major Humanitarian Challenges Mr. Mohammed Khamis Khalaf Athlete Achieved Outstanding Successes Mr. Abubaker Kaki Khamis An achievement based on sports values Al-Wehdat SC An outstanding media initiative promoting sports Al Jamaheer Program team of Dubai Sports Channel
2010 Award Winner Country Sports figure contributed to the Enrichment of local sports movement Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi Sports figure contributed to the Enrichment of Arab sports movement Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Sports figure contributed to the Enrichment of the Women Sports Sheikha Naima Al-Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah An organisation supports and promotes sports in the community Egyptian Olympic Committee Successful program resulted in outstanding outcomes Qatar Olympic Committee Abu Dhabi Sports Council Local junior athlete achieved tremendous success in the field of sports Mr. Ahmed Khalil
References