In a night that celebrated excellence, the Sports Industry Awards (SPIAs) were dubbed the “Academy Awards” of the Gulf region’s sports industry by winners and nominees, who all agreed the initiative is driving everyone to push harder and achieve more in their respective fields.
Greg Sproule, managing director of IMG Middle East, who were multiple-time winners last night, has been witness to the SPIAs since it was just an idea a couple of years ago and he paid tribute to the organisers for bringing it to life.
“The industry really embraces this as their Academy Awards essentially for the region and I think that’s a great testament to Michael (Chalhoub, Sport360° CEO) and Didier (Brun, Sport360° publisher) and the team at Sport360° for coming up with the idea in the first place,” said Sproule.
“You can see from the room full of people that it’s been embraced. And everybody looks at it as a chance, not so much of a competition, of collaboration and of celebration of what we’re all really trying to do.
“Whether that be with grassroots community initiatives, whether it be with addressing important issues of obesity and diabetes in the community.
“Whether it be getting women to exercise more and taking care of themselves. Or great customer service by a retail outlet.
“So it recognises that if you try really hard in your own discipline within the industry, you can be recognised.”
The event brought together all the major players in the region’s sports industry and Nasser Al Rahma, the Director of Sports Events at Dubai Sports Council, says the growth of the awards has been impressive.
“There’s great evolution and progress in the second edition of the SPIAs compared to the first one,” said Al Rahma. “As one of the judges, I can attest to the transparency in the judging process and there’s an independent company that is tallying the results.
“I can also see that this year, there is an increase in the number of entries whether from the UAE or from outside the UAE. And hopefully in the future, I see the SPIAs growing more and more.
“I’ve been the head of the Mohammed bin Rashid Creative Sports Awards for the past five years and I think it’s great that we are collaborating like this because it gives the Dubai Sports Council a chance to share its experience with the SPIAs.”
