Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award

Since the launch of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award in 2009, it has undergone several stages of development and improvement, which has reached the stage of the leadership and the internationalism, because of the accumulation of experience and expertise on the level of knowledge and skills.

On its 1st Edition in 2009, the award was launched as a generous gesture of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and President of the Dubai Sports Council. The award was the first of its kind in the area of sports creativity that intended to fill a major gap in sports to honor creative athletes in recognition of their outstanding achievements, support the efforts made to develop the sports sector in various fields, and uplift it to international standards. In its initial phase, the award was restricted to the local and Arab levels with three main categories determined for each level namely Individual Sports Creativity, Group Sports Creativity and Corporate Sports Creativity.

In harmony with the ambitious vision of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the Award, and with his persistent endeavors to turn the award into a unique trend whereby athletic and intellectual innovators can be honored, be it local or international innovators from different countries. The award, in its 4th Edition expanded internationally by adding achievements made in the Corporate Creative Sports Category, for which special technical regulations were issued. Thus, with this prestigious award, Dubai has become a shining spot for creative sports in the UAE, the Arab world and worldwide.

In recognition to what the award has achieved of cumulative knowledge and international placing role in sports during the past years through supporting and motivating the creatives, the award was selected as one of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI) to support and disseminate knowledge, vision of the future, leadership, empowerment of community and contribution to the sustainable human development.[1]

Following are the Board of Trustees for the award.[2]

Designation	Name	Country
Chairman	Mr. Mattar Mohammed Al-Tayer	United Arab Emirates
Deputy Chairman	Khalid Ali Bin Zayed Al-Falasi	United Arab Emirates
Members	Dr. Hassan Moustafa	Egypt
	Dr. Mustapha Larfaoui	Algeria
	Dr. Khalifa Rashid Al-Shaali	United Arab Emirates
	Mr. Ahmed Mosaed Al-Osaimi	Saudi Arabia
	Ms. Muna Darwish Busamra	United Arab Emirates
Secretary General	Ms. Moaza Saeed Al-Marri	United Arab Emirates

The award strives to achieve the following objectives:

• To support and highlight the leading creative efforts of individuals, teams, organizations or bodies and Institutions in the field of sports, in view of developing and enhancing sports creativity in all specializations, sectors and levels.
• To encourage athletes and persons working in the field of sports all over the world to achieve creative sports through the provision of adequate moral and material incentives.
• To develop sports works by supporting creative initiatives based on scientific grounds to achieve the objectives.
• To shed light on the concept of creativity and innovation in the field of sports, and raise awareness about the importance of sponsoring distinguished creative works and persons.[3]

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.

These awards are given to athletes, officials or organisations of United Arab Emirates only.

These awards are given to the athletes of Arab countries.

Best Arab Player

Year	Winner	Country	Sport
2009	Mr. Oussama Mellouli	Tunisia	Swimming
2010	Mr. Ali Mohammed Al-Asi	Jordan	Gymnastics
2011	Mr. Ibrahim Sabry	Egypt	Archery
2012	Mr. Taoufik Makhloufi	Algeria	Athletics
2013	Mr. Mutaz Essa Barshim	Qatar	Athletics
2014	Mr. Ayanleh Souleiman	Djibouti	Athletics
2015	Mr. Ihab Abdelrahman	Egypt	Athletics
2016	Mr. Ahmad Abughaush	Jordan	Taekwondo
2017	Ms. Nour Atef Ahmed Zaki El Sherbini	Egypt	Squash

Best Arab Coach

Year	Winner	Country	Sport
2009	Mr. Hassan Shehata	Egypt	Football
2010	Mr. Jama Mohamed Aden	Somalia	Athletics
Not awarded from 2011 to 2014
2015	Mr. Kheïreddine Madoui	Algeria	Football
2016	Mr. Ali Al Zahrani	Saudi Arabia	Karate
2017	Mr. Faris Ali Ibrahim Al Assaf	Jordan	Taekwondo

Best Arab Team

Year	Winner	Country	Sport
2009	Oman National Football Team	Oman	Football
2010	None Awarded
2011	Egypt National Youth Handball Team	Egypt	Handball
2012	None Awarded
2013	Al Ahly SC (Football Team)	Egypt	Football
2014	Saudi Arabia Disabled Football Team	Saudi Arabia	Football
2015	None Awarded
2016	Bahrain Royal Endurance Team	Bahrain	Equestrian
2017	Iraq National U-16 Football Team	Iraq	Football

Best Arab Organisation

Year	Winner	Country	Sport
2009	Tunisia National Center for Medicine and Sports Science	Tunisia
2010	Sudan Athletics Association	Sudan	Athletics
2011	Bahrain Olympic Committee	Bahrain
2012	Qatar Olympic Committee	Qatar
2013	Sports Institute Pierre de Coubertin	Tunisia
2014	Fitness Time Corporation	Saudi Arabia
2015	Sports Department of Egyptian Armed Forces	Egypt
2016	Sheikha Althani for Underprivileged Children	Egypt
2017	None Awarded