Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 23, 2023: The 26th General Assembly of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SOPC) was held on Sunday, February 19 at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Olympic Complex in Riyadh.
The General Assembly was chaired by the SOPC President, HH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, and in the presence of the SOPC Vice President, HH Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed, and Saudi sports federation presidents, board members and officials.
The meeting approved the formation of the Audit and Internal Audit Committee of the SOPC which will be chaired by Mr. Yasser bin Saad Al-Otaibi. The two members will be Ms. Adwaa bint Abdul Rahman Al-Arifi and Mr. Moath bin Muhammad Al-Salami.
The assembly reviewed several reports, among them the 1st Saudi Games, the report on the strategy to support and develop sports federations, the Saudi Olympic Training Center, the Saudi Olympic Academy and the report of the Athletes Committee, with the adoption of a draft amendment to the statutes of the Saudi Sports Arbitration Center.
SPORTS AWARDS
HH Prince Abdulaziz also honoured several personalities and organizations that contributed to Saudi sports with the awards of the SOPC for the year 2022.
*The SOPC President awarded the Olympic Excellence Award to the former President of the Saudi Football Association, Ahmed Bin Eid Al-Harbi, for his service to Saudi sports for several years, through which he held several positions in the Football Association.
*The exceptional award of the SOPC went to NEOM for the tremendous and prosperous cooperation that resulted in the Kingdom winning the hosting of the 2029 Asian Winter Games.
*The Saudi Equestrian Federation received the award for the best sports federation for the high rates achieved by the federation in the operational and technical evaluation of the strategy to support and develop sports federations.
*The Women’s Sports Award went to Ms. Lamia Al-Bahyan in recognition of her role in developing women’s sports and activating the women’s football league.
*Saudi karate player Sanad Sufyani won the best player award in 2022 for winning the gold medal in the World Karate Championship, and rally driver Yazid Al-Rajhi for achieving the gold medal in the World Cup (Baja) and third place in the Saudi Dakar Rally 2022.
*Ms. Donia Abu Talib, a Saudi taekwondo team player, was named best female athlete by becoming the first Saudi athlete to win a medal in the World Championship – a bronze. Coach Corbin Boukadaf won the Coach of the Year award for preparing and training Donia Abu Talib during her participation in the World Taekwondo Championship.
*Monica Stapp earned the award for best coach for supervising the Saudi women’s football team that won an international football championship.
*The award for the best Paralympic athlete went to Abdul Rahman Al-Qurashi for winning three gold medals at 100m, 200m and 400m at the West Asian Paralympic Games in Bahrain.
*The best Paralympic female athlete was Ms. Lujain Al-Thaqafi, a player of the Saudi boccia team, for achieving the gold medal in the boccia competition at the West Asian Games in Bahrain.
*The Saudi fencing team player, Hussein Al-Taweel, won the promising player award for achieving the gold medal in the Asian Junior Fencing Championship.
*The award for the promising female player of the Saudi Muay Thai boxing team was Hattan Al-Saif for achieving third place and the bronze medal in the World Muay Thai Championship.
*The Saudi Paralympic weightlifting team Quartermaster Adnan Nour Saeed won the Most Promising Paralympic Player Award for achieving four gold medals in the Asia/Oceania Weightlifting Championships.
*At the level of organizing major sporting events in the Kingdom, the Riyadh Marathon won the best sporting event for 2022, in which more than 10,000 runners took part, with two million riyals in prizes.
WEIGHTLIFTING SIGNING CEREMONY
Alongside the assembly meeting, the President of the Saudi Weightlifting Federation, Muhammad Al-Harbi, and the President of the International Weightlifting Federation, Muhammad Al-Jaloud Al-Shammari, signed the contract to host the World Weightlifting Championship, which will be held next September in Riyadh.
