Saudi Arabia’s special Olympics team arrives in Germany

The participation will be — for the first time — in 15 Olympic sports, with 85 male and female players. This year, the percentage of women’s sports representation in the delegation reached 59 percent. (Twitter/@saudiarabiaso)

• 130-member delegation, largest in Saudi history
• ‘Sport helps to improve lives of people with disabilities’

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s national delegation have arrived in Germany for the 16th Special Olympics World Games to be held in Berlin from June 17 to 25.
The Saudi delegation, led by National Director of the Saudi Special Olympics Abdulrahman Al-Quraishi, arrived on Tuesday in Duisburg, where they are staying for four days before leaving for the German capital.
The Kingdom has sent 130 members, the largest delegation in the history of the country’s participation.
The 85 male and female athletes will participate in 15 Olympic sports. Females make up 59 percent of the delegation.
Nineteen athletes will participate in volleyball, bocce, basketball, table tennis, handball and badminton.
Their stay in Duisburg will involve several cultural activities, including meeting with members of local communities and raising awareness of intellectual and other disabilities.
Maha Al-Juffali, president of the Saudi Special Olympics Federation, praised the International Special Olympics Organization for helping participants from the Middle East and North Africa region to take part in the event.
Al-Juffali said the aim of the federation is to improve the lives of people living with intellectual and other disabilities, through specially designed sports projects. The plan is to attract more private sector support to help train coaches and athletes.