Best Buddies Qatar, under umbrella of Shafallah Center of Persons with Disabilities, recently concluded football tournament of its members with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities in Qatar Sports Club.
Best Buddies Qatar members of the age 12 to 21-year-old participated from 14 preparatory and secondary schools and centres for persons with disabilities namely, Nasser Bin Abdullah Al-Attiya School, Ibn Taimiyah School, Al-Sailiya School, Hamad Bin Jassim School, Ahmed Bin Henbal School, Tariq Bin Ziad School, Ahmed Bin Mohammed School, Shafallah Center for Persons with Disabilities, Al-Ahnaf Bin Qais School, Abu Bakr Saddiq School, Doha School, Abu Ubaida School and Amal Center for Special Needs.
The final tournament witnessed enthusiastic competition among all teams. The first place among secondary schools was taken by Nasser Bin Abdullah Al-Attiya School, and among the preparatory schools, Al-Ahnaf Bin Qais School was the winner.
The event started with reading of Holy Qur’an, followed by the national anthem of Qatar and the greeting speech by Ahmad Isam Mahmoud, Best Buddies Qatar Ambassador.
The aim of the tournament was to improve the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities by promoting social integration and developing social opportunities to enhance their social interaction and communication during the game.
It also developed the basic sports skills and enhanced health of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, which encouraged their self-confidence and advances behaviour and attitude.
Best Buddies Qatar selected football tournament for its members with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities, as the most popular sport among young people and adults around the world.
Laalei Abu Alfain, Executive Director of Best Buddies Qatar, said, “Integration of people with disabilities into society is one of the most important objectives of the organisation. We strongly believe that sport activities encourage persons with disabilities to be integral part of Qatar community.”
“Sport contributes to the development of people with physical and social disabilities, as well as, the development of motor skills, it improves the sense of team work, thus sports raises public awareness of the potential of people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities to achieve Qatar National Vision 2030,” said the executive director.
Dr Gamal Abdel Nasser, Management Consultant of Qatar Sports Club, welcomed Best Buddies Qatar members and said, “Qatar Sports Club is always open for any sports activities for children and adults. Being related to the Ministry of Culture and Sports we intend to contribute to Qatar community disregarding the age and abilities of the players. We are happy to support the mission of Best Buddies Qatar to enhance life of people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities through social integration, especially sports activities. And it is our pleasure to host football tournaments in Qatar Sports Club facilities for its members at any time.”
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