Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 19, 2021: The Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee (SAOC) ends the year with a celebration of its merger with its sister organisation, the Saudi Arabian Paralympic Committee (SAPC), to become the Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee (SOPC).
On behalf of HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal, President of SAOC, HH Prince Fahad bin Jalawi Al Saud announced the merger on Thursday in Riyadh during the 25th SAOC General Assembly after the approval of the General Assembly.
The merger has been proposed as a result of a mutual agreement between the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee and the Saudi Paralympic Committee, aiming to have one single sporting body that delivers a unified platform of services for both Olympic and Paralympic athletes, coaches and staff members.
HRH Prince Abdulaziz said: “Today, we are writing a new chapter in the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic history. We plan to fill this chapter with remarkable Saudi achievements. The goal of this merger is to develop the sporting sector through our collaboration.
“We want to create and unify the plans and strategies for both entities to obtain a high level of performance among all athletes, in addition to creating a link between athletes of different capabilities to communicate, learn and motivate one another.”
The 25th General Assembly also included awarding several sporting personalities and programmes that significantly impacted Saudi sports for the past few years.
HRH Prince Abdulaziz presented the Olympic Excellence Award to Dr Mohammed Saleh Al-Konbaz, President of the Saudi Anti-Doping Committee (SAADC) for inaugurating the SAADC. Dr Al-Konbaz also earned great distinction by chairing and organising the Conference of Parties (COP) to the International Convention against Doping in Sport at UNESCO.
The Sports Development Award went to the Quality-of-Life Programme for co-creating three successful initiatives: Development of Elite Athletes, Saudi Olympic Training Center and Sports Federations Support, alongside the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee.
At the end of the meeting, the General Assembly welcomed its new members: the Falcons Club, the Saudi Aviation Club and the Saudi Royal Guards, who will significantly contribute to the Saudi sports sector.
