JournalismPakistan.com
December 17, 2015

ABU DHABI- The elite in sport journalism were awarded for their work at a glittering ceremony in the UAE capital as the Sport Media Pearl Awards capped off a six-month journey to find the best in sport media.

The evening at the Etihad Towers complex in Abu Dhabi welcomed a host of notable faces from the world of sport as Italian footballer Alessandro Del Piero joined NBA star Yao Ming and Olympic gold medallist Jonathan Edwards.

The awards are the first internationally to be dedicated to awarding excellence in the sport journalism industry and have seen a huge number of submitted entries.

The finalists, along with sport media professionals from around the world, convened at Etihad Towers as the final winners were announced at the event hosted by former Olympic athlete Jonathan Edwards.

The winner of each category was awarded the prestigious Pearl trophy and US$10,000 in prize money, with the second and third placed finalists receiving US$5,000 each.

An expert executive committee led by the AIPS (International Sports Press Association) studied more than 700 international submissions across a range of categories from sport photography and weblog to writing and audio. Eighty-five submissions were then shortlisted at an event in Abu Dhabi in November.

The judging panel, led by AIPS President Gianni Merlo and consisting of 11 sport media professionals including Sport Media Pearl Awards Jury's Special Ambassador, Yao Ming, a former NBA All-Star, then began the process of choosing three finalists for each category. - Xinhua