The Tahrir Square mood has reached the Paralympic Committee. Abeer Anwar reports After the Egyptian revolution succeeded in toppling Hosni Mubarak as president, the call for justice that millions cried out for was heeded by the Paralympians or physically disabled athletes. As Mohamed Ezzat Metwalli, an ex-power lifter and member of the new board of the Egyptian Paralympic Committee (EPC) recounted, "After the revolution, the Paralympians decided to start a revolution of their own against Nabil Salem," head of the Egyptian and African Paralympic Committees since the 1970s."We all came to the EPC headquarters and kept demanding that Salem step down. We slept in front of the premises for a week, leaving our homes and our children while asking for justice and freedom from the strict and rigid rules of Salem." Metwalli said that as world champions they had won for Egypt a number of gold, silver and bronze medals in the Paralympics and as such went straight to Hassan Sakr, head of the Supreme Council of Sports who agreed that Salem must go, appointing elected board members of the EPC headed by Ashraf Marie, a professor at the Faculty of Sports Education for Men and who has long experience in working with both the mentally and physically disabled. Sakr also decided that the head of the EPC should be a former Paralympian. Meanwhile, Egypt's handicapped athletes have started preparing for the 2012 London Paralympic Games to take place from 30 August to 10 September. Being world champions and record holders, 14 Egyptian power lifters qualified for the Paralympics. The team will participate in the Khorfacan power lifting championship to take place in Khorfacan in the United Arab Emirates from 13 to 26 October after which they will train at the Olympic training centre in Maadi. Ezzat, technical manager of the power lifting team explained, "We are also preparing for a one-week closed camp in London to help the athletes adapt to the weather over there." The team won first place in the World Championships in Malaysia last year with a total of eight gold medals, three silver and four bronze. Marie announced that Egypt's athletics team will also take part in the London Paralympics after they were able to qualify via their world records. He added that the athletes are the sole representatives of Egypt in the All- Africa Games currently taking place in Mozambique. He said the Egyptian basketball team took second place in the Arab Championships in Morocco in March even though they were banned for four years from participating in any national or international events for what he claimed was no clear reason. The team will also participate in the African Championships to take place on 8 October in Morocco "and there is much hope that the team can qualify for the Paralympics." Marei added that Egypt bid to host the table tennis African qualifiers and that "there is a big chance" for the Egyptian ping-pong players to qualify for the Paralympics. Marei added that Egypt has also bid for the Bell Ball African qualifiers. Marei is representing Egypt in the Chef de Missions Seminar together with representatives of 108 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) in London to receive an update on preparations for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The Chef de Missions Seminar is taking place from 7-9 September and provides a chance for team leaders and representatives from NPCs to receive updates and valuable information from the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG). Chef de Missions will also take a tour of many of the new venues that will be used for next year's Paralympic Games, and will get the opportunity to attend International Paralympic Day on 8 September in Trafalgar Square. Representatives from 25 NPCs will also take part in a one-day Chef de Mission workshop, which aims to train new and interested team leaders to give them an idea of their responsibilities ahead of next year's Games. Paul Deighton, LOCOG chief executive said: "We're delighted to welcome the NPCs from around the world to London and show them how much progress has been made in terms of planning for the Paralympic Games. With just under a year to go until the start of the Paralympic Games, we are committed to getting the Games right for athletes, and this week's meetings will help NPCs around the world prepare for next year's Games."
