The Kingdom’s Special Olympics teams arrive in Germany

The Kingdom’s delegation, which will participate in the 16th Special Olympics World Summer Games “Berlin 2023”, has arrived in the German city of Duisburg as part of the Host Cities Program preceding the start of the Games.

The Saudi delegation, headed by the National Director of the Saudi Special Olympics, Abd al-Rahman al-Quraishi, will leave for the German capital, Berlin, after staying for 4 days in Duisburg, where the stay will include the participation of members of the delegation in a number of events and activities.

The Kingdom is participating in the largest delegation in the history of its participation, as the Saudi delegation includes 130 members, which represents the largest number so far. Where participation will be for the first time in 15 Olympic sports, with the participation of 85 male and female players, as the percentage of female sports representation for the delegation reached 59%.

The Saudi teams are distinguished by their participation in various sports, where Special Olympics players meet with partner players in one team representing Saudi Arabia in sports such as volleyball, bocce, basketball, table tennis, handball, and badminton. The number of players participating in these sports is 19 players.

Maha Al-Juffali, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Special Olympics Federation, referred to the decisive role played by the International Special Olympics Organization in representing the Middle East and North Africa region, which granted the Kingdom its right to exceptional and great sports representation in this edition of the World Games.

She indicated that the vision of the Saudi Special Olympics aims to improve the quality of life of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through sports, by designing and implementing an integrated sports system that enhances the role of the private sector and the third sector in training coaches and players, and encourages their participation in sports competitions, with the aim of increasing the percentage of sports participation. and community in the Kingdom to 40% of its population by 2030, thus enhancing the effectiveness and quality of life of these individuals.