Valentino Rossi be recognised week for his brilliant campaign performance in the 2009 MotoGP World Championship. The Doctor will be a major contributor in the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award, he is one out of six nominees.

The televised event will recognise sporting achievements for 2009 and will occur in the Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi.  Attendees will be major sportspeople nationwide.  Movie stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Hugh Grant and Clive Owen will also arrive to the cermony, and Kevin Spacey will host the event.

The winners of the Awards are picked by the Laureus World Sports Academy and will be highly regarded with premier honours on the international sporting calendar.  For Rossi, it will be the fifth time he has been nominated in this category, in 2006 he claimed the Laureus Spirit of Sport Award.

Following this ceremony, Rossi will gain another tribute arranged by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for his representing his country on the world stage. This event will occur at the Villa Madama, and be presided by Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. A variety of MotoGP guests and ambassadors nationally will receive personal invite and unite with Rossi to celebrate his achievements.

“The nine times World Champion has sounded the national anthem on 103 occasions in different parts of the world, and has presented the important values of excellence of our country in five continents,” reads an event notice.   “Valentino Rossi has become an icon who represents the marvellous virtues of Italy on a foreign front, making all his compatriots proud to be Italian.”