Hollywood film star Kevin Spacey is to host the 2010 Laureus World Sports Awards, to be staged on Wednesday, March 10 in Abu Dhabi.

Kevin Spacey won Oscars for his roles in The Usual Suspects and American Beauty, and his other starring roles included Seven, LA Confidential, Pay It Forward and Superman Returns. Since 2003, he has been artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London.

Also flying in for the event from the world of TV and film are hugely popular British stars Hugh Grant and Clive Owen and American actors Kyle MacLachlan, star of Desperate Housewives, and Michelle Rodriguez, who plays Trudy Chacon in Avatar and was Ana Lucia Cortez in the TV series Lost.

They join other previously unannounced names from sport such as top Egyptian footballer, Abdel Zaher El-Saka; British Olympic boxing medalist, Amir Khan; current Formula 1 world champion, England’s Jenson Button; German swimming sensation, Britta Steffen; and US basketball legend, Julius Erving.

The 2010 Laureus World Sports Awards - which recognise sporting achievement during the period January 1 - December 31, 2009 - are the premier honours on the international sporting calendar and continue to attract a wealth of the world’s biggest names.

Expected to support the Awards – which are chosen by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sports jury, made up of 46 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time – will be sporting powerhouses such as World Heavweight Champion boxer Vitali Klitschko; Germany Women’s football coach Silvia Neid; South Africa rugby coach Peter de Villiers; and American 400 metres World Champion Sanya Richards.

They will be joined by a host of other big stars including cricket stalwarts, Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff and Michael Vaughan from England, Shaun Pollock from South Africa and Steve Waugh from Australia; Iranian tennis legend and crowd favourite, Mansour Bahrami; British track star, Dame Kelly Homes; Irish boxing marvel, Barry McGuigan; and ex-South African Springbok captain, Francois Pienaar.

A cacophony of the Laureus World Sports Academy and the Laureus Friends & Ambassadors programme have also signed-up for the event, which will mark the first time the Awards have been staged in the Middle East.

From the racing fraternity, Giacomo Agostini, the Italian multi-time world champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Mika Häkkinen, the two-time Formula One World Champion; and British racing legend, David Coulthard will join tennis and cricket stars, Sir Ian Botham, OBE, who was recently was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame; Kapil Dev, one of India’s greatest cricketers; Brian Lara, widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time; and Monica Seles, former World No. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Also flying in for the event will be football legend, Franz Beckenbauer; golf stalwart, Gary Player; American professional skateboarder, Tony Hawk; English Rower, Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave, who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000; and Morne du Plessis, the former South African rugby union player who is often described as one of the Springboks’ most successful captains.

In addition, a wealth of athletic stars will also be present such as, Serhiy Bubka, the Ukrainian pole vaulter who was repeatedly voted the world’s best athlete; Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comăneci, winner of three Olympic gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event; Moroccan hurdler, Nawal El Moutawakel, who won the inaugural women’s 400 m hurdles event at the 1984 Summer Olympics; and the UK’s Daley Thompson, who is considered by many to be the greatest decathlete of all time.

The names of the winners will be announced at a televised Awards Ceremony staged at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, which will also celebrate the first ten years in the life of Laureus.

The 2010 Laureus World Sports Awards will be supported by Host Partner Aabar Investments PJSC. Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates, offers a fascinating combination of the old and the new; a blend of Arabian hospitality and mystique where a mixture of culture and tradition come together against a backdrop of the most modern world-class infrastructure. Abu Dhabi is developing a reputation as a leading international sporting venue. The Laureus World Sports Awards is the latest high profile sports event to be staged in Abu Dhabi. Last year Abu Dhabi was chosen to stage football’s FIFA Club World Cup, and the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship are now highlights of the sporting calendar in the city.
 

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