Laureus Awards set to welcome the stars in Abu Dhabi

Tonight's glittering Laureus Awards illustrates the strength of ties between sport and entertainment.

Rafael Nadal wil be in Abu Dhabi tonight. Clive Brunskill / Getty Images

ABU DHABI // If anybody ever doubted the strengthening ties between sport and entertainment, they need only look as far as tonight's glittering red-carpet showpiece at the Emirates Palace hotel.

This evening's Laureus World Sport Awards will be hosted by Kevin Spacey, the two-time Oscar winner, and will feature a performance from Ronan Keating, the Irish pop star who recorded a music video for the song Iris in Dubai.

Morgan Freeman, who is so Hollywood he needs little introduction, will also be in attendance.

However, to suggest there is no business like show business, would be to suggest sport plays second fiddle to the entertainment and - for today at least - that is most certainly not the case.

Following the Laureus Challenge yesterday at Gary Player's Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, a packed schedule is planned once more, which will see Carlos Quieroz, the Portugal coach, host a football clinic and two celebrity-filled football teams do battle on a makeshift pitch at Emirates Palace.

The Laureus Foundation team, managed by Sir Bobby Charlton and including the likes of former Holland internationals Ronald de Boer and Edgar Davids, face an Emirates Foundation team that will be coached by Bora Milutinovic, the Serbian coach, and featuring former players such as Luis Figo and Gianfranco Zola.

With the full-time whistle sounding, the ambassadors will spruce themselves up and put on their finest tuxedos before walking the red carpet towards the awards ceremony itself. Here they will join the award nominees, including Kelly Slater and Rafael Nadal, the latter of whom is nominated for the World Sportsman of the Year.

Take a moment to ponder Nadal's competition, however, and there is one name that does not register quite so pronouncedly as the other five contenders.

That is not to say Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers point guard, is unidentifiable or undeserving - he is undoubtedly the most recognisable name in basketball and signed a new contract last summer worth US$83.5 million (Dh306.5m). But his prominence pales both internationally, continentally and locally when compared to the competition.

Nadal, after winning three of his sport's four major titles last season, has visited the Middle East several times in the past 12 months and dominated centre court for the second successive year at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi only a few weeks ago.

Manny Pacquiao, the pride pugilist of Asia, having maintained his reputation as arguably the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, revealed earlier this week that advanced talks have been held regarding a future fight in the Emirates and his next fight will be in Singapore.

Sebastian Vettel used the glittering Yas Marina Circuit to make history by becoming, at 23, Formula One's youngest world champion when he drove his Red Bull-Renault to victory at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November.

Finally, Barcelona - whose all-star line-up includes home-grown Andres Iniesta and the Argentine Lionel Messi - helped the Spanish national side prepare for World Cup success last summer by winning the Club World Cup at Zayed Sports City seven month's earlier.

The Primera Liga champions also have a football school in Dubai and signed a five-year record sponsorship deal with the Qatar Foundation worth €150m (Dh750m).

Which leaves only Bryant. The Lakers, despite much rumour, have yet to play a competitive game in the region while Bryant, as part of a Nike "Asia Tour" in 2009, visited the Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, China and Hong Kong, but nowhere in West Asia.

That is of course no reason to deny him a shining statuette this evening, but it does go some way in highlighting the genuine reach and international focus that sports such as football, tennis, Formula One and boxing enjoy.

And that is without even mentioning golf, which offers Europe's Ryder Cup side as nominees for World Team of the Year as well as three separate nominations for World Breakthrough of the Year in Louis Oosthuizen, Matteo Manassero and Martin Kaymer.

Manassero is a global ambassador of Abu Dhabi, while Kaymer might as well be, having won the UAE capital's annual golf championship three times in four years.

All that counts for nothing tonight. The 46 members of the World Sports Academy decide, and their judgment is based solely on sporting achievements. Entertainment will play second fiddle.