Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy

Kuala Lumpur, Mar 24, 2014: Laureus World Sports Academy Chairman Edwin Moses has announced a reduced programme of activity at the 2014 Laureus World Sports Awards in Kuala Lumpur, following the confirmation that Malaysian flight MH370 had been lost in the Indian Ocean.

Several events have been put on hold ahead of the Laureus Awards Ceremony, which takes place tomorrow (March 26).

Edwin Moses said: “Everyone in the Laureus World Sports Academy has been upset by this terrible tragedy. With the Laureus World Sports Awards in Kuala Lumpur this year, we feel particularly close to the Malaysian people at this time which makes what has happened even more personal and distressing. We feel the appropriate action at this time is to scale down some of our activities over the next two days.

“On behalf of the Laureus Academy and the wider Laureus Family around the world, I would like to share our sadness at this latest news and pray for the passengers and crew, and their families of this awful accident which has touched so many people in so many different countries of the world.

“We have decided in light of the tragic news, we would like to adapt this afternoon’s football event to better reflect our collective feeling at this difficult time. We have made a commitment to a legacy of Laureus’ presence for young people in Malaysia. We made a commitment to the young people for this event which we want to honour at this time when sport can be an opportunity to unite us in grief and in hope. We dedicate the Laureus All Stars Unity Cup to the families and loved ones of the victims of MH370.”