Syria will host the Special Olympics MENA Regional Games, the biggest since 1999, reports Abeer Anwar Under the auspices of First Lady Asmaa Al-Assad, Syria will host the Special Olympics Middle East and North Africa Regional Games, the biggest since 1999. A total of 2,300 athletes, 5,000 volunteers and 2,500 families are expected to attend the event due to take place from 25 September to 3 October. ??SO MENA regional managing director Ayman Abdel-Wahab said the Syrian dossier outdid all the other five submitted in the bid to host the seventh version of the regional event. The SO MENA Regional Games is a sports event held on a bi-annual basis with the last version held in Abu Dhabi in 2008. The announcement came during the opening of the Syrian National Games "Will & Life" which was attended by Mrs Al-Assad in the capital Damascus. Abdel-Wahab stressed his confidence in Syria's ability to host major events in terms of its organisational and technical potential. In this context, he pointed out the Healthy Athletes annual conference that Syria hosted in 2005 which boasted huge success. Abdel-Wahab also affirmed his strong belief that the seventh version of the event would witness an outstanding leap in the number of participants. Highlighting the numbers of athletes, having been 1,000 in the fifth version in Dubai, and 1500 in the sixth version in Abu Dhabi, he said he expected the number to increase to 2,000 in Syria 2010. Abdel-Wahab said Syria 2010 would include 15 sports, outdoing its counterpart in Abu Dhabi by three sports. A number of side events will also be held parallel to the Regional Games, in which delegations from all of the 22 member countries in the League of Arab States, along with Iran, will participate. These will include the fourth Families Conference, the fifth Youth Conference, the second Young Athletes Conference, and an inclusive health screening in all disciplines. In his address, Faisal Al-Basri, head of SO Syria, expressed delight over Syria's hosting of the Games, describing the event as involving an extreme humane aspect. Al-Basri stated that the quota of each of SO MENA's 23 Arab countries, in addition to Iran, partaking in the Games was within 148 individuals to participate in all of the Games' 15 sports. Al-Basri listed the sports to be competed in during the Games: track and field, swimming, cycling, table tennis, bocce, bowling, equestrianship, handball, unified sports futsal, badminton, roller skating, weightlifting, unified sports basketball for females, floor hockey and tennis. Al-Basri said Syria was mobilising all sports facilities it owns to ensure success in the Games which he described as the largest for individuals with intellectual disabilities in the region. Along with the huge number of participants, Al-Basri pointed out other parallel events that will take place alongside the Games: regional conferences for Families, Youth and Schools, Athlete Leadership, Health Screening and Young Athletes. By early October, according to Al-Basri, the Games' mascot will be revealed and official website launched. Al-Basri said the championship will be held at the venues of Tishreen, Al-Fayha'a and Martyr Bassel Equestrian Club. In April a conference will be held for all heads of delegations, and training courses will be conducted for Syrian doctors who will partake in the Healthy Athletes programme. Al-Basri said Syria's hosting of the Games was a message to the world reflecting the support and concern directed towards individuals with intellectual disabilities on the official as well as individual level -- a message that he also described as reflecting civilisation and humanity from Damascus, the oldest inhabited city in history, which makes the SO MENA Seventh Games the largest in the region to date.
