28/05/2014
SPECIAL OLYMPICS UNIFIED FOOTBALL WORLD CUP LOGO LAUNCHED
KUALA LUMPUR (28 May 2014): The first-ever Special Olympics Unified Football World Cup 2014 will kick off on 2nd November bringing together people with and without intellectual disabilities to play and compete on the same teams. Football is the largest and most popular team sport in the Special Olympics with more than 500,000 athletes from 170 countries.
Over 400 Special Olympics athletes from 25 countries will play in the tournament which is expected to attract an estimated 150,000 spectators.
This historic 12-day event will be held from Nov 2-15 at seven venues around the country with matches in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Kedah, Perak, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak. This will be the largest sporting event hosted by Malaysia since the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
The Special Olympics Unified Football World Cup logo was officially launched today by YM Tunku Muinuddin Putra Tunku Ahmad Nerang, representing Her Royal Highness, Raja Puan Besar of Perak Tuanku Raja Zara Salim, at the Royal Selangor Club in Bukit Kiara.
Tunku Muinuddin Putra is the grandson of Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman while Tuanku Raja Zara is the grandniece of the country’s ‘Father of Independence’.
The Special Olympics Unified Football World Cup logo takes its inspiration from a stylised representation of the various continents of the world participating in the tournament. A unique typography was then created to form the word UNIFIED.
Special Olympics Malaysia (SOM) President, Datuk Muhammad Feisol Hassan, his deputy Dato’ Dr. Peter Velappan, members of the Board of Advisors, Special Olympics representatives and other family members of Tunku Abdul Rahman were also present at the event.
Tuanku Zara, in her opening address which was read by Tunku Muinuddin, said the Special Olympics Unified Football World Cup is an important opportunity to improve perceptions about the remarkable abilities and competitive spirit of Special Olympics athletes. The event is expected to create more opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities through sporting activities.
“This event, I believe, will leave a legacy of respect for athletes and people with intellectual disabilities, and build a dynamic advocacy platform which seeks to make real changes in society through improved policies like early intervention,” added Tuanku Zara.
“At the end of the Unified World Cup, the world would have received the clear and distinct message that Special Olympics athletes are no different than those we see every day on the football pitch. Our athletes are able to break down barriers and play together as a team,” said Tuanku Zara.
Tuanku Zara added people with intellectual disabilities should be given equal opportunity to grow and flourish, and experience the ‘excitement’ of scoring goals in the Special Olympics Unified Football World Cup.
The champions of the first-ever Special Olympics Unified Football World Cup 2014 will also be awarded a trophy to be produced and donated by Royal Selangor Pewter, and designed by Malaysian designer Heige Foo of Merdeka LHS. The trophy is named in honour of Tunku Abdul Rahman.
SOM President, Datuk Muhammad Feisol disclosed that the trophy was aptly named in honour of Malaysia’s Father of Independence. The Tunku, as he was fondly known, was an avid sportsman and a firm believer that sports can be a catalyst in bringing about greater social unity among various races and religions in Malaysia.
YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman served as president of both the Football Association of Malaysia and the Asian Football Confederation for almost 20 years.
“In conjunction with the Unified Football World Cup, we will be organising ‘The Ball Tour”, where for 30 days preceding the opening ceremony, The Special Olympics football will travel to towns and cities across peninsular Malaysia and will be welcomed by various communities and covered widely by the media to raise awareness for the Cup,” said Datuk Feisol.
In addition to this, the Cup will offer the Healthy Athletes Programme which will see volunteer health care professionals providing free screenings, follow-up care, hearing aids and other necessary aids.
There will also be a Special Olympics Village & Festival event. This will offer athletes from all 25 nations an opportunity to gather at the Games Village and be entertained by various cultural performances and social activities.
Twenty-four teams have qualified for the Finals from the initial 47 participating countries. Malaysia automatically qualified as hosts.
The participating teams are the United States of America, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Honduras, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, South Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Libya, Serbia, Romania, Slovakia, France, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Korea Republic, China PR, Thailand, Bangladesh and Malaysia.
