Paris, May 7 The Laureus World Sports Awards, which will be delivered this Monday in Paris, have distinguished the “TeamUp” initiative, in favor of the psychosocial well-being of children affected by war, the organization announced.
The Laureus released this Sunday the preview corresponding to the “Sport for Good” category, one of the seven of these awards. For the rest, there are names such as tennis players Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, Argentine Lionel Messi and his team, Real Madrid and soccer player Alexia Putellas, among others.
“TeamUP”, developed by ‘Save the Children’, Unicef Netherlands and ‘War Child’, is present in 26 countries. This initiative has been applied in 2022 in Poland with Ukrainian refugee children because of the Russian invasion.
“The work he does is of great help to families affected by the war, and helps to keep children happy and healthy,” said former Ukrainian soccer player Andrei Shevchenko, a European soccer legend and member of the Laureus committee.
In addition to this “Team-up” award, this Monday the awards for the other categories corresponding to 2022 will be announced and delivered at the Pavillon Vendome in Paris, including one for the best Paralympian of the year.
Messi will compete for the best sportsman of the year award after leading Argentina to the world title and will face his PSG teammate Kylian Mbappé, runner-up in the world in Qatar 2022, and Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal, who after winning the Australian Open and Roland Garros in 2022 added 22 “Grand Slam” victories.
The list of candidates for best athlete in the men’s category is completed by the Dutch Max Verstappen, two-time Formula 1 world champion, the Swedish Mondo Duplantis, pole vault world record holder, and the American Stephen Curry, MVP of the NBA finals.
At the team level, the world champion, Argentina, will face Real Madrid, champion of the League in Spain and winner of the Champions League for the fourteenth time in 2022; and the England women’s team, winner of the last Euro Cup.
The list is completed by the French men’s rugby team, which won the Six Nations in 2022 after twelve years; the Golden State Warriors (USA), NBA champion for the fourth time in eight years, and the Oracle Red Bull Racing team (Austria), which was proclaimed Formula 1 constructors’ champion after beating Mercedes after eight years .
In the women’s category, the Spanish soccer player and Barcelona captain, Alexia Putellas, is once again nominated after winning her second Ballon d’Or in a row.
The award for the revelation athlete includes among its candidates the Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, after winning the United States Open and becoming the youngest male world number one in history.
The Laureus awards will also honor the comeback of the year, with the American golfer Tiger Woods and the Danish soccer player Christian Eriksen among their contenders.
Likewise, the Brazilians Felipe Toledo (surfer) and Rayssa Leal (skate) are nominated in the extreme sports category. Leal, 15 years old, was a silver medalist in Tokyo at just 13 years old. EFE
atc/ism
