United Arab Emirates Paralympic Committee
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18 NPC PROFILE UNITED ARAB EmIRATES | Interview 19 Alzaabi Thuraya, Alzarouni Mohamed and Alaryani Abdulla Sultan all enjoying the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Para Games HISTORY AND BACKGROUND “We would love to have event such as a World Championships. The United Arab Emirates Paralympic Com- some major event hosted by “That is a dream which we would like to see mittee celebrated its 15th birthday in June become reality,” Al Hameli said, adding, “It this year, but UAE Paralympic athletes were the UAE” requires lots of work to present to and con- active long before that. They competed for vince the officials, but we would love to have the first time internationally at the 1990 In- faces an uphill struggle to compete for atten- some major event hosted by the UAE. ternational Stoke Mandeville Games with five tion with other popular sports, like football. powerlifters and table tennis players. This “Given all the support from the government December, the UAE will host the event’s “We’re in a region where football dominates and the President and Prime Minister and successor, the IWAS World Games. all sports, and in order for us to break that also the Crown Prince, who came to attend barrier, there are lots of things to do,” said some of the conference, it gives us a lot of A key milestone of UAE NPC’s progress came Al Hameli. encouragement to organize a big event,” three years ago when a new board was formed Al Hameli said. T54 wheelchair racer Vahdani Mohamed in action and Al Hameli became Chairperson of NPC High up on Al Hameli’s agenda is raising the UAE. profile of Paralympic sports in the media, and BUILDING A CHAMPION he’s pretty satisfied with what the UAE NPC “We wanted to raise the Paralympic Move- has accomplished so far. With London 2012 a year away, the UAE is ment in the UAE to a different level,” Moham- focusing on a select group of elite athletes, United Arab Emirates med Al Hameli said. “I think we’ve achieved more than we ex- as part of their “To Build a Champion” pro- pected in increasing the awareness of Par- gramme. The new board put in place a five year strategy alympic sports,” Al Hameli said, adding that in the run up to London 2012 focussing on May’s international forum received unprec- “We hope this will bring the UAE to the Paralympic Committee making sports facilities available for Para- edented press coverage and was broadcast winning stage for some of the athletes,” lympians, which can be more difficult in rural live on the Abu Dhabi Sport Channel. Al Hameli said. areas of the Emirates. Aspiring to Host an International Paralympic Event The NPC Chairperson wants to translate this The country is focusing its efforts on Shoot- Five clubs in the UAE help to prepare im- growing attention into sustainable financial ing, Powerlifting and Wheelchair Racing and paired athletes for competition: the Abu support, particularly by nurturing its relation- hopes to repeat or better Mohamed Khamis UAE SPORTS SPECIALIST AT THE HELM Having just hosted an interna- Dhabi Disabled Sports Club, Alain Disabled ship with the business world. Khalaf’s silver in Powerlifting at the Beijing tional forum on Sports for Peo- Sports Club, Dubai Club for Special Sports, Paralympics. His Excellency Mohammed Mohammed Fadel Al Hameli began ple with a Disability, which tackled Althiqah Club for the Disabled and the Khor- THE FUTURE his career in finance and administration before joining the Zayed the challenges that impaired athletes face, fakkan Club for the Disabled. Higher Organization for Humanitarian Care and People with Special the UAE Paralympic Committee now has its With a strong history of hosting major Needs in 2004. eye on hosting an international Paralympic FOOTBALL FEVER sports events, like the F1 Grand event in the future. Prix, and pre-season football tours Since then Mr. Al Hameli has been increasingly involved in the Although the UAE NPC has been gaining for major clubs, the UAE NPC is now 12 20 world of sport. In 2007 he was elected to the UAE Federal Na- To find out how the Paralympic Movement is momentum in the past few years, it keen to stage a major Paralympic n r i Mohammed Al tional Council for a four year term and in 2008 he became Chair- gaining momentum in the UAE, The Paralym- o F Hameli want to raise ut person of the UAE Paralympics Committee. pian spoke to H.E. Mohammed Mohammed O Paralympic sport to k Fadel Al Hameli, Chairperson of NPC UAE. oo a whole new level. L He is also Deputy Chairperson of the Asian Football Confedera- to s tion Social Responsibility Committee, Board Member of the UAE te le General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare and Vice President Abu Dhabi Malaleih Hassan celebrates th A of the UAE National Olympic Committee. winning Shot Put gold at the rld USA (Wheelchair Rugby) Guangzhou 2010 Asian Para o W Wheelchair Rugby is one of the toughest and fastest Games sports around and the USA are unbeaten in every major event since the 2006 Wheelchair Rugby World Championships. They have won four out of the last five World Championships and beat Australia in Beijing to take Paralympic gold. 20 PARTNERS & PATRONS PARTNERS & PATRONS 21 “Many participants remember the customs and se- curity regulations, which had to be adhered to be- fore the goods were sent to Beijing, like medicine and food imports and exports having to go on sep- arate packing lists. DB SCHENKERsportsevents made sure we jumped through all the bureau- cratic hoops to get everything delivered on time,” Schneider said. “Deliveries had to be made at night because of the high air pollution, and for the return flight back home, no liquids were allowed to be packed in the shipments,” she said. Despite all these logistical headaches, everything DB SCHENKERsportsevents was instrumental in delivery equipment to the Beijing 2008 Paralympics went smoothly thanks to the great co-operation be- tween the NPCs and the largest DB SCHENKER- sportsevents team that had ever worked on DB SCHENKERsportsevents Paralympic Games. Gears Up for London 2012 For the last year the team has been preparing for the new challenges of London 2012. As a part of Over 1,000 days have passed since the At the Beijing 2008 Para- the DB Schenker Olympic & Paralympic Compe- Beijing 2008 Paralympics and there are lympic Games, the com- tence Centre, Nina Schneider is the main contact now less than 400 to go until London 2012. pany provided logistical for London 2012 and other Paralympic events. services to the IPC and If NPCs have any questions, they can contact Nina It is the calm before the storm for DB about half of the 146 Schneider by email nina.schneider@dbschenker. SCHENKERsportsevents which will take on NPCs taking part. It will com or by phone +49-6107-74905. the massive logistical challenge of transport- be Nina Schneider’s responsibility ing equipment, medication and other goods again to liaise with NPCs and get their For DB Schenker’s top 10 tips on how to trans- to London on behalf of National Paralympic most precious cargo to London – some- port goods to and from the UK, check out the next Allianz has been upgraded to “International Partner” Committees from all around the world. thing that won’t come without its logis- edition of The Paralympian. tical challenges. web >> www.dbschenker.com Allianz Strengthens its Paralympic Support Allianz SE, one of the world’s leading integrated financial services As well as promoting the Paralympic Movement, Allianz also believes providers, has strengthened its support of the Paralympic Movement company employees can learn from Paralympians. by renewing its global partnership with the International Paralympic Committee and agreeing to six further partnerships with National “Allianz sees Paralympic athletes as role models for true motivation Paralympic Committees. and as the most credible personalities to give advice on managing Visa Pre-paid London 2012 Paralympic Games Themed Cards personal crisis,” said Joseph K. 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