Muscat, Dec 4
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth (MoCSY) concluded the Sixth Annual Festival for Persons with Disabilities, held under the auspices of Dr Laila bint Ahmed al Najjar, Minister of Social Development, and in the presence of Basil bin Ahmed al Rawas, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth for Sports and Youth. The closing ceremony crowned several days of vibrant community engagement, featuring training workshops, sports competitions, and cultural and tourism activities held at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher.
The final day witnessed the crowning of the winning teams in the championships and competitions. In wheelchair basketball, Al Dakhiliyah team took first place, followed by Al Batinah North in second and Al Sharqiyah North in third. Table tennis also stood out with strong competitive levels across intellectual categories: Faris al Sharji from Al Ofuq Centre secured first place in the men’s first classification, while Thuraya al Shaibani from Wafa Centre in Bahla claimed first place for women in the same classification. In the second classification, Salem al Amri from Wafa Centre in Mirbat was ranked first, while Suhaib al Rahbi from the Wafa Centre in Ibra topped the third classification.
The badminton competitions attracted wide participation as well. In the physical disability (men) category, Ibrahim al Hakmani from Wafa Centre in Mahout achieved first place, followed by Nabhan al Maktoumi in second and Mohammed al Falaji from inclusive education schools in Al Batinah North in third. In the physical disability (women) category, Ashwaq al Abdulsalam from Saham Association came first, with her team-mate Sarah al Balushi finishing second. Meanwhile, Ahmed al Suhail from the Oman Association for Persons with Disabilities in Salalah won first place in the wheelchair category. In the intellectual disability classifications, Ahmed al Barashdi won first place in the men’s first classification, while Najlaa al Yahyae was ranked first for women. Basheer al Salmi topped the second classification and Abdullah al Noobi from Wafa Centre in Salalah excelled in the third classification.
In the deaf football 8-a-side competition, the players continued to demonstrate their high skill levels. Hope School for the Deaf team finished first with nine points, followed by the North Al Batinah team with eight points and Al Dakhiliyah team in third place. At the individual level, Hood al Jabri from Hope School for the Deaf won the top-scorer award, while Ahmed al Maqbali from Al Dhahirah became the best player and Suleiman al Omairi from Al Dakhiliyah was named the best goalkeeper.
Festival director Zayana al Yaarubi stated that the festival began in 2008 as a small national idea that quickly evolved into a major platform empowering persons with disabilities. She confirmed that the sixth edition reflects the priorities of Oman Vision 2040 and the national sports strategy by expanding programmes for this group and advancing training and qualification standards.
She noted the rapid development of the festival, with participant numbers rising from 1,300 in its first edition to 3,313 participants in the 2024 edition, 611 from Muscat alone. This year also marked the implementation of digital transformation in registration, interactive mapping, and participant tracking, along with the introduction of the GMS global system for the first time in Oman after localisation, enhancing the event’s management quality.
The festival’s success also produced clear economic and organisational benefits. It contributed to booking more than 400 hotel rooms in Muscat throughout the event’s duration, and over 15 small and medium enterprises were contracted to provide logistical and operational services. Additionally, more than 60 national talents were trained, with the involvement of international instructors and 144 volunteers supported the organisation and supervision efforts. A total of 66 centres from different governorates participated in the festival, with more than 50 buses allocated for participant transport.
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