Andres Iniesta has been nominated for the Best Male Athlete award at Laureus. The Spanish football team, which last year won his first World Cup in South Africa, will compete for the award with the New Zealand rugby, the European team for the Ryder Cup of golf, the Inter Milan football, basketball Los Angeles Lakers and the Formula 1 team Red Bull.

The tennis player Rafael Nadal and Andres Iniesta will compete in the category of best international male athlete with basketball player Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers, the Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona, the Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao and the German Formula 1 Sebastian Vettel.

Fernando Torres and Carlos Tevez were both on the long-list for nominations.