• Dr. Khalifa Al Shaali will head the Technical Committee
• Jury Committee to he headed by Mustafa Baraf of Algeria
• Dr Moaza Saeed Al Marri to head the Communications and Marketing Committee

DUBAI: His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award, has issued a vital decision regarding the formation of committees prior to the 13th session of the annual Award.

One of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, the Award was launched in 2009 in an attempt to honour individual sporting brilliance, teams and organisations who have made significant sporting contributions in the UAE, and on the global stage.

The Award – with more than AED 7.5 million on offer in all category winners - 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 such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The award ceremony for the 12th edition was held on January 10, 2024 with the theme “Sports as a universal language and a soft power capable of shaping the future”. There will be a specific time window for individuals and institutions to apply for the Award, after which each submission will be evaluated as per the criteria laid down.

Hence, keeping the next edition in mind, HE Mattar Al Tayer has instructed the formation of three committees, namely the Technical Committee, the Jury Committee and the Communications and Marketing Committee. All three committees will have a two-year span extending up to 2025.

The Technical Committee will be chaired by His Excellency Dr. Khalifa Al Shaali, who is also a member of the Award’s Board of Trustees. The other members on the committee are Abdul Samad Hussein Suleiman (UAE) as Vice President along with members Dr. Muhammad Abdul Wahab Al Ansari (UAE), Mansour Al Sabahi (UAE), Dr. Saad Ahmed Shalabi (Arab Republic of Egypt) and Dr. Naji Ismail Hamed, Director of the Technical Department of the Award, who will be Co-ordinator.

The Jury Committee will be headed by His Excellency Mustafa Baraf, Member of the Board of Trustees (Algeria), along with His Excellency Ahmed Musaed Al Osaimi, Member of the Board of Trustees (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) as Vice-Chairman, and members Tariq Yousef Al Janahi (UAE), Maryam Abdullah Matar bin Lahej (UAE), Adhari Moayed Muhammad Zahreddine (UAE) and Dr. Naji Ismail Hamed, Director of the Technical Department of the Award, who will be the Co-ordinator.

The Communications and Marketing Committee will be chaired by Her Excellency Moaza Saeed Al Marri, Secretary-General of the Award (UAE) along with Sarah Mohammed Al Mudharib (UAE) as Vice President and members Walid Al Amiri (UAE), Adel Farouk Al Awadhi (UAE), Sami Abdel Imam (Republic of Iraq) and Hussam Al Sayed Abu Al Futouh, the award’s main specialist and Co-ordinator.

At the onset, His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer congratulated the heads and members of the committees for being entrusted with such responsible work during the thirteenth session of the Award while achieving the great goals set by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council and patron of the Award, and His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Second Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Chairman of the Dubai Media Council, President of the UAE National Olympic Committee and Chairman of the Award, in developing the sports sector in the UAE, the Arab world and around the globe.

His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer also expressed his confidence that the thirteenth session will witness an increase in the pace of work so that the principles of the Award are fulfilled with much more vigour.

“We seek excellence in all that we undertake and this Award will be no exception. This Award that bears the name of our beloved leader is meant to push us further towards greater excellence while developing and implementing work plans with the highest levels of quality that are commensurate with the name and status of this prestigious Award. I am convinced that the Board of Trustees and the Award’s committees will be working non-stop to achieve and develop sporting excellence, while empowering communities through sports as a medium,” HE Mattar Al Tayer noted.

HE Al Tayer further confirmed that the 13th session will include the achievements of individual Arab athletes, teams and institutions in many tournaments and sporting events that will be organized during the duration and period set up, including this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris.

He pointed out that the Award always works to monitor and evaluate all those who deservingly fall achieve within the ambit of the Award. The idea, he insisted, is to get an entire sporting community moving with one mind and heart towards excellence so that the UAE flag flies high while continuously searching and nurturing genuine talent across the world.