Spacey to host Laureus awards ceremony

Hollywood star Kevin Spacey will host the Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday in front of an audience that would include many leading names from show business and sport.

Flying in for the event from the world of TV and film are British actors Hugh Grant and Clive Owen and Americans Kyle MacLachlan – star of Desperate Housewives – and Michelle Rodriguez, who played Trudy Chacon in Avatar.

They will join newly announced sports names such as Egyptian footballer Abdel Zaher El Saka, British Olympic boxing medalist Amir Khan, Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button, German swimmer Britta Steffen and United States basketball star Julius Erving.

The awards will recognise sporting achievements in 2009 and the winners will be announced at the televised ceremony at the Emirates Palace hotel. The recipients are chosen by the Laureus World Sports Academy, a jury made up of 46 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time.

Expected to support the awards are sporting powerhouses such as world heavyweight champion boxer Vitali Klitschko, German women's football coach Silvia Neid, South Africa rugby coach Peter de Villiers and American 400m 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, and Iranian tennis legend Mansour Bahrami, among others.

Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the Emirates Business 24|7 daily newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.