Riyadh – The draw for the participation of countries from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games, to be held in Torino, Italy on March 8, 2025, took place in Dubai yesterday.

The regional president of Special Olympics International, Engineer Ayman Abdel Wahab, and members of the regional presidency were present during the draw.

The Kingdom was selected to participate in the "Unified Floorball" team, in which players with intellectual disabilities and their peers without disabilities participate in the same team.

The draw was completed for the rest of the sports that the Olympics will showcase, including cross-country skiing, speed skating, snow running, dance sports, figure skating, and the team sport of floorball.

During the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games, the Kingdom sent a delegation of 11 participants, including eight players who competed in snow running and speed skating.

They were among 289 participants from 16 countries, including the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Palestine, Qatar, Iran, and Oman. The Kingdom participated in four sports: floor hockey, speed skating, cross-country skiing, and snow running, among the seven sports held by the Olympics. The region also participated in the Youth Conference through a player and an escort.