The city of Abu Dhabi hosted the IX MENA Games 2018 –March 14-21. The success of the Games was celebrated by thousands of cheering fans and witnessed athletes and coaches as they paraded during the opening ceremony to light up the flame that marked the definitive opening of the Games.

The Games were the most ‘unified’ in the history of Special Olympics MENA, with inclusive teams featuring athletes with intellectual disabilities playing alongside typical colleagues in basketball, tennis, table tennis and football competitions.