About BASA

The British Asian Sports Awards (BASA) was founded by Sony Entertainment Television Network in 2000 and has grown to be the biggest Asian sports awards in the UK. It was set up to globally showcase the immense sporting talent that exists within the Asian community in the UK.

BASA prides itself on recognising and celebrating the substantial achievements of British Asian sporting talents from across the UK. As well as honouring professionals who have already proved themselves within the sporting arena, BASA is a unique institution for raising the profile of talented amateur and semi-professional South Asians involved in sport and nurturing that talent even further.

BASA also encourages entries from individuals, groups and organisations that are actively working at a grass-roots level to increase the involvement of British Asians in sport.

Aims and Objectives

BASA aims to bring British Asian sporting talent to the forefront, placing them in clear view of decision makers, influential people and ultimately, the sporting arena as a whole. So, those who may not have yet considered South Asians as athletes, footballers, boxers, golfers or tennis players need look no further than BASA.

Now in its eleventh year, BASA continues to encourage sport as a serious profession in the Asian community by challenging stereotypes and highlighting some of the greatest sporting success stories of the decade, that transcend religion, gender and age.

The BASA Success Stories

Over the past 11 years, BASA has honoured and helped develop the careers of many Asian sports personalities:

• Amir Khan, who is BASA's most decorated award winner to date, was nominated for an award even before he became the youngest British Olympic boxing silver medallist in Athens in 2004. He has since gone on to become Britain's third-youngest world champion and arguably the biggest British Asian sports star in the world to date.

• Isa Guha who is now a prominent fixture in the England Women’s Cricket team is another sportsperson that BASA has seen grow and develop from a young age. Isa was a nominee for Most Up and Coming Sports Personality of the Year at BASA in 2004. BASA recognised her potential before she went on to represent England at the 2005 Women’s Cricket World Cup in South Africa. BASA has followed her journey since and just last year, BASA crowned her winner of the British Asian Sports Personality of the Year.

• Rajiv Ouseph is another great success story and BASA was the first to highlight his achievements when he was nominated for Most Up and Coming Sports Personality of the Year in 2006. He has since gone on to win a silver medal in badminton for England at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010 and is today, England’s number one single’s badminton player.

But it is not just within the UK that BASA commends Asians who are excelling in their sport. BASA also has a category for International Sports Personality of the Year, which has been won by a variety of sporting legends including the Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Vishwanathan Anand and Saina Nehwal.

BASA also prides itself in honouring the sporting giants that have paved the way for the future stars to shine and excel in their chosen sports. The recipients of BASA’s Lifetime Achievement Award have been British and International superstars such as Farokh Engineer, Nasser Hussain, Vikash Dhorasoo, Vijay Amritraj and last year, BASA paid tribute to Sri Lankan legend Arjuna Ranatunga.

Judges and Ambassadors

To maintain that BASA recognises the crème de la crème of British Asians in sport, it has an esteemed panel of judges who have the difficult task of picking the final nominees to go to the public vote.

The panel consists of former England and Surrey cricketer Mark Ramprakash, British Olympic Gold Medallist and ambassador for London's 2012, Denise Lewis OBE, BBC Sports presenter Manish Basin, respected sports journalist Mihir Bose, EVP Head of International Business Neeraj Arora and Lorraine Deschamps, Level 5 qualified and FA licensed Football referee, who was also a part of England's 2018 Football World Cup bid.

The Awards Night

The Awards attract hundreds of VIP's from the worlds of sport, entertainment and industry. Past attendees have included; England & Spurs striker Jermaine Defoe, Ashes hero Kevin Pietersen, Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev, boxing sensation Amir Khan, former England Cricket Captain Nasser Hussain, and many more national and international stars from the world of sport.

Over the years, BASA has seen well known faces from the world of showbiz walk the red carpet, with VIP guests including the likes of James Caan, Nina Wadia, Jermaine Jackson, Colin Salmon, Tasmin Lucia Khan, Nitin Ganatra and Laila Rouass

The event also attracts some of the biggest names in music including, Girls Aloud, Westlife, Lemar, Alexander O'Neal, Jamelia, Chipmunk and The Saturdays.

Every year BASA supports a charity, all proceeds from telephone voting and the live auction held at the event are donated to the selected charity of choice for the year. In the past, BASA has given over half a million pounds to charities such as The British Asian Trust, The Lord’s Taverners Association and BASA has developed a strong partnership with Sporting Equals.

The event is organised by Sony Entertainment Television Asia and will be broadcast internationally on the channel.