Audiences and fans of Arab sports have voted Egypt’s National team and Al Ahli Club player Mohammad Abu Tareka the best Arab National team and the best Arab Footballer for the year 2006, respectively. Jordanian Basketball player Zaid Al Khas was voted the best Arab Basketball player, Qatari Naser Al Attayh Top Player in other sports category, while Emirati Sheikha Maitha Bint Mohammad was adjudged best Arab Female athlete.
The Arab Sports Awards 2006 is the biggest such Arab Sports online voting campaign, organized by Sport4ever website (www.sport4ever.com), part of Maktoob.com, the largest Arab Online community, for the third consecutive year with a huge participation of Sports fans from across the Arab region.
Egyptian Al Ahli Club topped Arab Football Clubs while Egypt's national team was named best Arab national team. The Saudi League clinched the best Arab Championship title.
Below are the overall results of the public vote for the Best Sports Award for 2006:
Football: Egypt's national football team and Al Ahli player Abu Tareka claimed the first place amongst 20 players, Saudi Yaser Al Qahtani came in second, Emirati Ismael Mattar in third place, Syrian Eyad Mando in fourth and Jordanian Rafat Ali took fifth place.
Basketball: Jordan's national Basketball team and Fastlink player Zaid Al Khas came in first, Saudi Ali Maghrebi came in second place, Syrian Michelle Maadanli claimed the third place, Jordanian Ayman Duas bagged the fourth place and Egyptian Ismael Ahmad came in fifth.
In other categories, Qatari Naser Al Attayh claimed first place as Top Player in various Other Sports (Rallies), followed by Jordanian Mohammad Al Abbadi in second place (Taekwondo) , Egyptian Amro Shabanah came in third place (Squash), Emirati Sheikh Rashid Bin Mohammad in fourth place (Equestrian) and Syrian Ziad Al Masri came in fifth (Swimming).
Best Arab Female Athlete: Sheikha Maitha Bint Mohammad was crowned best Arab female athlete (Karate) followed by Egyptian Aya Madani in second place (Athletics), Jordanian Alaa Kutkut came in third (Taekwondo), Bahraini Ruqaya Al Ghasra claimed the fourth place (Athletics) and Lebanese Kosette Basbous secured fifth place (Taekwondo).
The Best Arab Championships: The Saudi League was selected as the best Arab Championship followed by the Egyptian League, Jordanian League, Syrian League in fourth place and Qatari League in the fifth place.
Best national teams: Egypt's national team clinched the first place, Saudi Team came in second, Omani Team third, Emirate Team secured fourth place and Jordanian Team fifth place.
Best Clubs: Egyptian Al Ahli took first place followed by Saudi Al Hilal, Syrian Al Karameh in third place, Jordanian Al Faisali came in fourth and Moroccan Al Raja claimed the fifth place.
Winners in the rest of the categories included Raof Khleif as the best sports commentator, Ayman Gadah as the best sports program presenter, Mustafa Al Agha the best news presenter, and Al Mahatah Al Reyadiah as the best program. Super was selected as the best Sports magazine, ART as the best sports channel, Tareq Ziab as the best analyzer, Habib Zabalawi as the best correspondent, Al Kora with Dream as the best conversational program and Ousama Al Sheik as the best journalist.
Maktoob Sports Manager, Samer Kamal, stated that all winners will be rewarded each at his own country. “We launched the Arab Sports Awards in a bid to contribute to and support the development of sports in the Arab world. The overwhelming response we have received has been proof of the immense popularity of sport in our region,” added Kamal. “We felicitate the winners and wish them all the very best as they continue in their respective careers and win laurel upon laurel for their countries.”
For more information, please visit the following link:
http://www.sport4ever.com/poll/best2006
About Sport4ever.com:
Sport4ever.com was launched in the year 2000 in Saudi Arabia as the first Arabic discussion forum specialized in sports. Maktoob.com acquired an 80 percent stake in the website in April 2006. It now attracts hundreds of thousands of users offering them the ability to submit sports news and discuss sports related issues. In January 2007, sport4ever.com recorded 1.5 million unique visitors and 7 million pages views.
About Maktoob Group:
Maktoob Group comprises a network of leading online media companies and websites. In addition to the Arab world’s leading portal, www.maktoob.com, the Maktoob Group network includes Souq.com (www.souq.com) auctions and marketplace, Araby.com (www.Araby.com) the first Arabic search engine, and cashU (www.cashu.com) the electronic payment solution, in addition to several other leading sites and services in the region. In 2005, Abraaj Capital, a leading regional private equity firm, acquired a stake in Maktoob.
For more information about the Group, please visit www.maktoobgroup.com
