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Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar will be competing with the likes of tennis star Rafael Nadal and Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel for the 2011 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award.

The Laureus World Sports Awards are awarded annually to sportspeople who have been outstanding during the previous year. The Laureus World Sports Awards were established in 1999 by Founding Patrons Daimler and Richemont and is supported by its Global Partners Mercedes-Benz, IWC Schaffhausen and Vodafone. The first gala was held on May 25, 2000 in Monte Carlo.

Tendulkar, who was named International Cricket Council Player of the Year, will also have to fight it out with spin legend Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan for the prestigious award.

Star footballers like Diego Forlan, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi will also hope to become the first ever team player to win this individual Award.

The selection process has two stages. First, a Selection Panel of the world’s leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters from over 80 countries votes to create a shortlist of six nominations in each category. The voting process is monitored by independent auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Then the members of the Laureus World Sports Academy vote by secret ballot to select the Award winners.

Abu Dhabi will once more play host to the iconic Laureus Sports Awards at the Emirates Palace Hotel on February 7, 2011.

Following are the Nominees:

1. Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket)
2. Muttiah Muralidharan (Cricket)
3. Rafael Nadal (Tennis)
4. Sebastian Vettel (Formula One Driver)
5. Diego Forlan (Soccer)
6. Andres Iniesta (Soccer)
7. Lionel Messi (Soccer)
8. Manny Pacquiao (Bboxer)
9. Graeme McDowell (Golfer)
10. Jorge Lorenzo (MotoGP Racer)
11. Camille Lacourt (Swimmer)
12. AP McCoy (Jockey)

The world’s biggest sporting event continued its spread to new corners of the globe Thursday as Russia and Qatar were named as hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup soccer tournaments.

England last time host FIFA world cup in 1966 and USA in 1994. Qatar, with 1.7 million people, only 300,000 of whom are citizens, is the smallest nation to host a World Cup.

Press reacted to the announcement of Russia and Qatar hosting the 2018 and 2022 world Cups respectively, from Australia to Spain and the US.

• Norwegian daily Dagbladed named the choice of Qatar ‘the biggest joke in football history’ and Sweden’s Expressen spoke of a ‘miserable’ outcome.
• ‘What do Russia and Qatar have common? Oil income and corruption. FIFA seems to like it,’ Expressen said.
• Football’s ruling body FIFA was under fire on Friday by the world media over its election of Russia and Qatar as World Cup hosts for 2018 and 2022, respectively.
• In Italy, leading sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport said the choice of Russia and Qatar was the final proof that ‘only politics count. It is about business – more or less dirty.’
• German broadsheet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said that Thursday’s election showed that something is wrong within FIFA.
• The Bild tabloid, in an editorial, called for Blatter’s resignation after ‘the soul of football was sold for oil dollars.’
• Disappointment and anger was naturally running highest in the countries of losing bidders, with England leading the way after British media had twice exposed FIFA officials as allegedly corrupt.
• ‘England did not lose the right to host the 2018 World Cup because of the British media. It lost it precisely because of the corruption the British media was fighting against.’