12 February,2010 08:28 AM IST | | Agency
Lionel Messi could well become the first team player to win the Laureus Sportsman Award, if ballot goes in his favour at the 2010 Laureus World Sports Awards here on March 10.
The Awards for the period January 1 to December 31, 2009, are recognised as the premier honours on the international sporting calendar andu00a0 winners, as voted by the Laureus World Sports Academy thats is made up of 46 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time.
Last year's winner of the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award, Usain Bolt, and four-time winner Roger Federer have both been nominated again along with long distance runner Kenenisa Bekele, Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, Italy's seven-time senior MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi and Messi,u00a0 FC Barcelona's precocious young footballer.
