KL to stage 15th Laureus World Sports Awards

The 2014 Laureus World Sports Awards, the premier honours event in the international sporting calendar, will be held in Kuala Lumpur on March 26.

Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said Kuala Lumpur was honoured to have been given the privilege of hosting the event.

"This is a sports-loving country and I can promise warm Malaysian hospitality awaits all our guests," he said in a statement, Wednesday.

He noted that as 2014 was declared 'Visit Malaysia Year', there was no better time to visit and experience the multicultural heritage, mouth-watering food and unbeatable shopping Malaysia had to offer.

"We're proud to count badminton world No. 1 Datuk Lee Chong Wei, squash world champion Datuk Nicol Ann David and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist in platform diving Pandelela Rinong as products of our sports culture.

"Coupled with international events such as the Monsoon Cup and Formula One Grand Prix, we're confident that Kuala Lumpur is the perfect host for a sporting event with such global significance," said Mohamed Nazri.

Meanwhile, Laureus World Sports Academy chairman Edwin Moses said it was an exciting development that the 2014 event was being held in Southeast Asia for the first time.

"Of course, this will be a very emotional occasion as it's the first Awards since the death of our patron, the great (anti-apartheid icon) Nelson Mandela.

"And I'm sure with the support of everyone in Kuala Lumpur, it'll be an awards ceremony to remember where we can salute today's sporting heroes and pay tribute to President Mandela," he said.

Among the sporting greats named as winners over the 15 years of Laureus have been Usain Bolt, Sebastian Coe, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Alex Ferguson, Lewis Hamilton, Kelly Holmes, Rafael Nadal, Pelé, Steve Redgrave, Ronaldo, Michael Schumacher, Kelly Slater, Shaun White, Serena Williams and Zinedine Zidane.