Male, Maldives, November 1, 2019: The International Paralympic Committee welcomed Maldives into its family at the 2019 IPC General Assembly in Bonn, Germany, on October 26. The National Paralympic Committee of Maldives, plus the NPCs of Kiribati, Malta and Paraguay were officially ratified on the first day of the General Assembly, bringing the IPC’s membership to 205. Maldives is the 44th NPC from Asia. Ibrahim Ismail Ali, President of NPC Maldives said: “It is in fact a dream come true. It gives our athletes and people with a disability the opportunity to compete in sports and show their courage and talent. “We have a huge task ahead of us,” Ali continued. “We need to educate, train and produce athletes and support our members. “Our NPC will work hard to fulfil our objectives through the following: conducting awareness programmes through education; developing coaches; training athletes; strengthening management of our members; and organising and participating in competitions locally and internationally.” At last year’s Asian Para Games in Jakarta, a total of 39 men and 35 women athletes from Maldives took part in athletics, badminton, swimming, table tennis, tennis, shooting, football and volleyball.
Maldives gains full membership of International Paralympic Committee
