Mideast teams in UAE for Special Olympics World Games
ABU DHABI, March 9, 2019
Four Middle East and North Africa (Mena) delegations are among the teams to have arrived in the UAE ahead of Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019, yesterday (March 8).
Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019 will see more than 7,500 athletes from over 190 nations compete from March 14 to 21.
The athletes will compete in 24 Olympic-style sports in nine venues across Dubai and Abu Dhabi in what will be the largest sports and humanitarian event of the year, said the organisers.
Athletes, coaches, heads of delegation and medical support staff from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt and Bahrain all touched down six days before the largest sports and humanitarian event of the year begins.
The Saudi Arabia delegation, which features female athletes for the first time ever, arrived on two separate flights at Abu Dhabi International Airport and joined up with the rest of the team, who landed earlier in the week.
The full Egyptian team and Bahrain delegation also touched down in Abu Dhabi, while the full Kuwait contingent arrived at Dubai International Airport, they stated.
It is the second consecutive year that the four Mena delegations have travelled to the UAE after competing at Special Olympics IX Mena Games in Abu Dhabi last year, said the organisers.
Basketball, bowling and table tennis are among the sports that Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and
Kuwait will be participating in at the World Games.
Over 190 participating nations are due to arrive into Abu Dhabi and Dubai over the coming days ahead of the World Games.
