United Arab Emirates

“I am Saif Bin Sumaida, a retired senior engineer from ADNOC Gas. God blessed me with four sons and two daughters. We discovered that one of our sons, Ali, had autism at four years old and he struggled a lot with his speech growing up. We enrolled him in speech therapy sessions at the New England Center to help him work on this.

Special Olympics programs and badminton Member Associations are working hard in close collaboration preparing athletes to shine on the world stage at the Special Olympics World Games badminton competition in Berlin this June.

Special Olympics looks back at the last World Games and a meaningful partnership that established new programs and bolstered education initiatives.

Local program of SO MENA, Special Olympics UAE, signed a new MOU to promote the athletic abilities of people with intellectual disabilities.

Hamda Al Hosani was recognized by Arab Woman Awards.

26 Special Olympics UAE athletes showcased their talents at Expo 2020 Dubai on 8 October 2021.

Special Olympics United Arab Emirate’s Unified 3x3 Basketball team earned a place in the finals of The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) 3X3 Basketball tournament organized by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council on Hudayriyat MarVista on 22 October 2021.

Omar Al Shami proudly represented his country, the United Arab Emirates, at the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019, and achieved a gold medal in the swimming competition.

Special Olympics UAE, Special Olympics Kuwait Sign MoU in preparation for World Winter Games Kazan 2023.

Ben McBride is a volunteer football (soccer) coach from Special Olympics UAE. Prior to joining Special Olympics UAE as a Coach, Ben organized various sports programs for athletes of determination* for over 15 years.