The Qatar Sports Media Committee is making intensive preparations for the best sportsman and sportswoman poll ceremony, which it is hosting and organising under the supervision of the Arab Sports Press Federation on 21 April, with wide participation from a large number of leading sports media figures from Qatar and the Arab world.
A packed programme has been drawn up for this ceremony, held for the first time to cement the special relationship between sport and media, and to support the sporting achievement and creativity shown by athletes and teams who achieve honourable results at Arab, continental, international and Olympic level, honouring them in an annual ceremony that reflects the Arab sports media’s appreciation of them and their achievements.
The ceremony also honours active sporting figures who leave a clear positive mark on Arab sport, through selecting the best Arab team and sporting personality each year.
Several media and economic institutions have rallied to support this ceremony, foremost among them the Qatari newspaper Al Sharq, which will present the best sportswoman and best sportsman awards for 2014, worth $5,000 for each winner.
The ceremony, which Doha is hosting, will include an intensive programme of seminars, discussions and field visits to sporting and tourist landmarks in Qatar.
The sports poll committee, chaired by Moroccan colleague Badreddine Idrissi, federation vice-president, along with fellow members Abdullah Al Marri, federation vice-president, Lebanese sports journalist Said Ghobris, and Tunisian journalist Zoheir Al Ouerimi, head of the sports section at the Tunisian news agency and sports poll expert, met in Tunis last Friday and reviewed all Arab sporting achievements of 2014, both individual and team, and provisionally decided the following in line with professional criteria and standards.
Shortlist for the 2014 best Arab athlete title
1- Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia
2- Larbi Bourrada of Algeria
3- Ihab Abdel Rahman of Egypt
4- Abdulrahman Al Masatfa of Jordan
5- Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar
6- Ali Khamis Abbas of Bahrain
7- Abdelkabir Ouadar of Morocco
This poll will take place on Tuesday 21 April, while on 22 April the executive committee of the Arab Sports Press Federation will hold an ordinary meeting with its full membership to discuss what was achieved in 2014 and its work programme for this year, most notably the ninth Arab Sports Journalists’ festival, expected to be held in Tunisia, which has expressed its desire to organise it.
