In mid-February 2011, the ceremony of awarding the most prestigious sports prize Laureus World Sports Awards, which is also called the "Sports Oscars", took place in Abu Dhabi. It should be noted that the ceremony was first held in the Middle East region.
The Laureus Prize is awarded annually to athletes for outstanding achievements in the previous year. It was established in 1999 with the participation of groups such as Founding Patrons Daimler and Richemont, and with the support of Mercedes-Benz, IWC Schaffhausen and Vodafone. The process of identifying winners is carried out in two stages: first, a group to select candidates from the best sports editors, writers and commentators from 80 countries votes to make a short list of six nominations in each category. The voting process is controlled by independent auditors from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Then, members of the Laureus World Sports Academy secret ballot determine the winners.
The best athletes of 2010 according to Laureus were: Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal and American skier Lindsay Vonn. The national team of Spain was recognized as the team of the year, having won the world champion title for the first time in 2010. The French football player Zinedine Zidane received a special award for outstanding achievements and contribution to the development of sports. In the nomination "Return of the Year", Italian motorcycle racer Valentino Rossi was noted, who returned to the track after a broken leg. In the nomination "Breakthrough of the Year" was awarded to German golfer Martin Kaymer.
On the red carpet of the Laureus Awards ceremony in the emirate's capital, many eminent athletes and Hollywood stars were seen, including Boris Becker, Hugh Grant, Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, Zinedine Zidane and many others. The stars of sports and cinema not only met at the ceremony, but also held a friendly football match, the audience of which were guests and representatives of local and international media.
