Yao Ming, the former basketball star and China’s most famous athlete, has committed to joining the judging panel for the new global sports writing competition, the Sport Media Pearl Awards, to be celebrated in Abu Dhabi in December.
Yao ranked among the elite of the National Basketball Association (NBA) during his seven-season career with the Houston Rockets. At 2.29 metres he was the tallest player in the league but he also was a player of supreme finesse and was named to the All-NBA team five times.
A native of Shanghai, Yao, 34, now serves as president of the prominent local club, the Shanghai Sharks, and is a global ambassador for the Special Olympics.
The Pearl Awards, managed by Lausanne-based AIPS (International Sports Press Association) and hosted by Abu Dhabi Media, are the first international awards dedicated to the sports media industry.
HE Mohamed Ebraheem Al Mahmood, chairman and managing director of Abu Dhabi Media, said: “As a cultural gateway between East and West where global sporting influences converge, Abu Dhabi is ideally placed to host this ground-breaking international award.”
Yao will be part of an elite judging panel looking at entries from sports journalists from all over the world who report on everything from amateur to professional sporting events.
Submissions are now open in each of the six categories — Writing, Photographic, Audio, Video, Journalistic, Weblog and Sport for a Better World — and journalists from all over the world are being asked to submit their entries.
Three special categories, not open to submission, will be awarded by the judging panel: A Life in Sport, Investigative Reporting and Best App.
Speaking ahead of the December event, Yao said: “At their very best, sport journalists deliver the passion and emotion involved in sport in a way that truly moves you.
“From writers telling the story where a competitor has beaten all the odds to achieve victory to the photographer who has perfectly captured an incredible sporting moment, these awards are there to highlight just how great they are.
“From a personal point of view I will never forget some of the reporting that went into chronicling my journey to the NBA and that is another big reason why I am so proud to be involved in the Sport Media Pearl Awards.”
A road show to promote the awards at key global sporting events including the Diamond League Athletics Championship in Qatar, the Uefa Champions League final in Germany and the European Games in Azerbaijan got under way earlier this year.
Abu Dhabi will host the ceremony in December along with a special conference on the morning of the awards. The winners in each category will receive a trophy and US$10,000 (Dh36,700).
For details of the awards and how to register, go to http://sportmediapearlawards.com
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