Vettel in line for Laureus Sports Man of the Year Award; Football greats in first-ever Laureus Unity Cup in KL;

Laureus World Sports Awards 2014

By Christina Sumitra

Bangalore,

17 March 2014: German stalwart and speed king Sebastian Vettel, four-time Formula One world champion, is nominated for the celebrated Laureus Sports Man of the Year Awards 2014 and will be competing with other great sports personalities from other sports for the `Nobel of the sports’, the Laurus awards.

Vettel may have retired at the Aussie GP on Sunday, but as he travels to Sepang, the Laurus Awards beckon him on March 26 at Kuala Lumpur and he has a fair chance of winning the prestigeous award. And along with long-time former teammate Mark Webber of Australia, the Red Bull team is also nominated for the Team of the Year award 2014.

And with Red Bull doing well, unexpectedly, despite the disqualification of his teammate David Ricciardo, Vettel may still regain his prospects, if the car takes a transformation. and the Red Bull engineers are capable of producing such miracles.

For now a football match between the Great stars of football who will play the first-ever all stars Unity Cup in Kuala Lumpur on March 25.

Laureus release adds: 

• Fabio Capello and Michael Laudrup are coaches for the big match
• Victor Baia, Ronald de Boer, Paulo Ferreira, Steve McManaman and Hidetoshi Nakata among the stars signing up to play
• Laureus All Stars Unity Cup kicks off at 17.00hrs on Tuesday, March 25 at Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur
• Laureus World Sports Awards to be held in Kuala Lumpur, March 24-26

KUALA LUMPUR, March17. 2014 – A glittering collection of football stars are to play in the first ever Laureus All Stars Unity Cup as part of the 2014 Laureus World Sports Awards in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The two managers – Fabio Capello and Michael Laudrup – are currently recruiting their players for the match, which will take place at the Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur, at 17.00hrs on Tuesday, March 25, on the eve of the Laureus Awards Ceremony.

The Laureus All Stars Unity Cup will feature some of the most celebrated football names in the world as players and coaches. Already confirmed are:

• Vítor Baía (Portugal) Goalkeeper: played over 400 times for Porto between 1988 and 2007.Played in the Jose Mourinho Porto team which beat Monaco in the 2004 Champions League final
• Ronald de Boer (Netherlands) Midfield: played 67 times for Holland, including 1994 and 1998 World Cups. Won Champions League with Ajax in 1995.
• Fabio Capello (Italy) Coach: one of the game’s great managers, he is currently in charge of Russia and has managed AC Milan, Real Madrid, Roma, Juventus and England
• Paulo Ferreira (Portugal) Defender: played 62 times for Portugal and was in two Champions League winning squads for FC Porto and Chelsea
• Michael Laudrup (Denmark) Coach: won league titles with Ajax, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus. Played 104 times for Denmark. Managed Swansea in the English Premier League
• Steve McManaman (England) Winger: played 274 times for Liverpool and 94 times for Real Madrid. Played 37 times for England
• Gaizka Mendieta (Spain) Midfield: Played 230 times for Valencia, finishing his career with Middlesbrough in England. Won 40 caps for the Spanish national team
• Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan) Midfield: Played for Japan in three World Cups and two Olympic Games. Played mainly in Italy with Perugia, Roma, Parma, Bologna and Fiorentina
• Antonios Nikopolidis (Greece) Goalkeeper. Played 90 times in goal for Greece and was in the side that won the 2004 European Championship

There will also be an Under-19 game earlier in the day and Luis Milla, current coach of Al Jazira, who played for FC Barcelona and Real Madrid and who was in charge of Spain’s youth team for several years, will be conducting coaching sessions with young footballers.

The Laureus All Stars Unity Cup will be played in front of an invited audience and is not open to the general public. Broadcast details will be announce in due course. It will feature two 30-minute halves, played between two squads selected from these outstanding world class footballers. The names of more players taking part will be announced shortly.

The following day, Wednesday, March 26, the 2014 Laureus World Sports Awards, the premier honours on the international sporting calendar, will be unveiled at a televised Awards Ceremony at Istana Budaya in Kuala Lumpur. The Awards, which honour the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of the year, are voted for by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sports jury, made up of 46 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time.

Proceeds from the Laureus World Sports Awards directly benefit and underpin the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which supports more than 140 community sports projects in 34 countries. Since its inception, Laureus has raised over €60 million for projects which have helped to improve the lives of millions of young people.

Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia (YR1M) is the corporate social responsibility partner of the Laureus World Sports Awards and has been working with the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation to help young people in Malaysia through the use of sport. Edwin Moses said: “We are not just in Malaysia for the Laureus Awards. We have been working with YR1M to do what we can to help young people. We are really delighted to be working with such excellent partners as YR1M and we hope our activities will make a difference.”

YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri, Minister of Tourism & Culture of  Malaysia, said: “Kuala Lumpur is honoured to have been given the privilege of hosting the prestigious 2014 Laureus World Sports Awards and the city looks forward to staging this internationally-renowned event and welcoming a plethora of sporting legends to Malaysia. This is a sports-loving country and I can promise warm Malaysian hospitality awaits all our guests. Coupled with international events such as the Monsoon Cup and Formula One Grand Prix, we are supremely confident that Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is the perfect host for a sporting event with such global significance. I am positive this will be an event to remember for all involved.”

The full list of Nominees for the 2014 Laureus World Sports Awards is:

Laureus World Sportsman of the Year
Usain Bolt (Jamaica) Athletics; Mo Farah (UK) Athletics; LeBron James (US) Basketball; Rafael Nadal (Spain) Tennis; Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) Football; Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Motor Racing.

Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year
Nadine Angerer (Germany) Football; Missy Franklin (US) Swimming; Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica) Athletics; Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia) Athletics; Tina Maze (Slovenia) Skiing; Serena Williams (US) Tennis.

Laureus World Team of the Year
All Blacks (NZ) Rugby Union; Bayern Munich (Germany) Football; Brazil Men’s Football Team; Bob & Mike Bryan (US) Tennis; Miami Heat (US) Basketball; Red Bull (Austria) Motor Racing.

Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year
Afghanistan Cricket Team; Marc Márquez (Spain) Motor Cycling; Raphael Holzdeppe (Germany) Athletics; Nairo Quintana (Colombia) Cycling; Justin Rose (UK) Golf; Adam Scott (Australia) Golf.

Laureus World Comeback of the Year
Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia) Athletics; Rafael Nadal (Spain) Tennis; Oracle Team USA – Sailing; Tony Parker (France) Basketball; Ronaldinho (Brazil) Football; Tiger Woods (US) Golf.

Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability
Marie Bochet (France) Skiing; Marcel Hug (Switzerland) Wheelchair Racing; Tatyana McFadden (US) Wheelchair Racing; Sophie Pascoe (NZ) Swimming; Sarah Louise Rung (Norway) Swimming; Olga Sviderska (Ukraine) Swimming.

Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year
Jamie Bestwick (UK) BMX; Bob Burnquist (Brazil) Skateboarding; Mick Fanning (Australia) Surfing; John John Florence (US) Surfing; Maya Gabeira (Brazil) Surfing; Shaun White (US) Snowboarding.