KABUL (SW) – Feeling neglected and abandoned, a number of athletes with disabilities want the National Olympic Committee to provide them with access to various sports fields in the country.
Ebrahim Danshi, who lost one of his hands nearly 20 years ago in security incident, said that there is little access to sports for people with disabilities and it should be increased. “When we practice, people who have disabilities and are very weak think that they have no place in society, but when they come here, their situation improves. They should be provided with more opportunities for sports.”
Agha Mohammad Sharifi, a resident of Herat, who lost one of his hands in the war, said that the National Olympic Committee should provide more sports fields to people with disabilities. “People with disabilities do not have proper sports facilities, but the Islamic Emirate pays attention to sports and we ask the Islamic Emirate to make more sports facilities available to people with disabilities so that they can demonstrate their abilities as well.”
Officials at the National Olympic Committee held the Parakwondo (Taekwondo for people with disabilities) competitions in Kabul earlier this week and said that they will improve the access for people with disabilities to sports.
Mohammad Bashir Turki, the head coach of the national taekwondo team, told Salam Watandar: “Today, the parakwondo competitions were held among the members of Herat, Ghazni and Kabul provinces, and 20 of them will be selected for the national committee.”
It should be mentioned that previously, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) said that people with disabilities make up 15% of the population of Afghanistan and have been disproportionately affected by the crisis due to the lack of access to basic aid.
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